All Features

Cookbooks

Cooking: January 2019

Feature by Sybil Pratt

Let’s Eat France! by François-Régis Gaudry and friends is a big—as in, six pounds big—boisterously beautiful, ingeniously designed and illustrated book that answers every question you have about French cuisine and all the questions you didn’t know you needed answers to. There’s no table of contents, no chapters, no categories. Every turn of the page invites you to delight in an eclectic, serendipitous survey of France’s edible heritage. You’ll wander from an exploration of the crunchy cornichon pickle and a consideration of the great gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, to a recipe for an amazing Sardine Pâté, a family-friendly Pot-au-Feu (that’s beef stew, to you), a classic cherry-studded Clafoutis and 372 more remarkable French dishes, plus maps, charts and anecdotes. As a flâneur in the fertile fields of French gastronomy, you’ll learn about wines, hand-crafted liqueurs, cheeses, foie gras, oysters, breads, cakes, galettes, famous chefs and hors d’oeuvres. C’est merveilleux!

If “real” cooking is on your agenda for the new year, there’s a fresh cookbook about an old technique that’s a must. Searing Inspiration: Fast, Adaptable Entrées and Fresh Pan Sauces  by Susan Volland is your ticket to getting fabulous, four-star meals on the table in a flash. Using a skillet and the skills you’ll develop under Volland’s savvy tutelage, making Rib Steaks with Whiskey Béarnaise, a classic Sole Meunière or Tamarind-Glazed Chicken will be a breeze. The ingredients may vary, but the technique—sear, deglaze, embellish—is the same. You sear ingredients in a hot, oiled skillet and remove; deglaze with wine or another liquid; add the flavor-boosting aromatics you’ve chosen and prepped; re-add the seared ingredients and you’re a dinner diva.

Doug Crowell and chef Ryan Angulo, co-owners of two revered neighborhood restaurants in the restaurant-rich borough of Brooklyn, believe that the most important ingredients in any dish are kindness and salt. Their debut cookbook, appropriately titled Kindness & Salt: Recipes for the Care and Feeding of Your Friends and Neighbors, shows you how to salt early and generously to bring out the best in over 100 recipes, from Mushroom & Goat Cheese Scramble, Pommes Frites and Seared Scallops  to desserts and cocktails. Though you can’t sprinkle kindness on pasta or popovers, you can serve this superbly satisfying bistro food (Duck Meatloaf, Narragansett Mussels, Banana Foster Profiteroles) with warm, cordial confidence.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If “real” cooking is on your agenda for the new year, there’s a fresh cookbook about an old technique that’s a must.

FashionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Lifestyles: January 2019

Feature by Susannah Felts

Finnish sisters Saara and Laura Huhta share the wealth of their successful indie clothing pattern brand, Named, in Breaking the Pattern: A Modern Way to Sew. The nifty thing about their designs is the focus on extreme adaptability: They are “designed to offer as many options for personal customization as possible,” the sisters write. They have included patterns for 10 different garments—from bags and blouses to classy cocktail dresses and jumpsuits—and claim that “it’s possible to sew at least 50 different variations of the projects,” should you wish to experiment. These garments are built on Scandinavian design—clean lines, minimalist elegance—and they range from drapey styles to more tailored looks. In the back of the book, you’ll find six full-size pattern sheets, which are arranged from easiest to most challenging.

A new friend recently gave me a small pilea plant from one of the “babies” her plant produced. This has quickly become my most beloved houseplant—one with a story behind it. That’s the kind of joy that Caro Langton and Rose Ray, the authors of Root, Nurture, Grow: The Essential Guide to Propagating and Sharing Houseplants, want more people to experience. If you’ve got a good knife and scissors, some old containers, potting mix and a few other simple items, you can turn one houseplant into as many as you like. Langton and Ray (find them on Instagram at @studio.roco) cover different types of cuttings for a number of common plants, and they also discuss division, grafting and other in-depth aspects of propagation. Even if you stick to plunking stems into jars of water and watching roots form, you’ll enjoy having this pretty guide at your side.

Readers of Martha Stewart Living will recognize the concept of The Martha Manual: How to Do (Almost) Everything: quick, no-nonsense instructions for home-related tasks. Here, Martha Stewart’s how-tos are organized by themes like “Organize,” “Clean,” “Craft” and “Create.” But I find this guide fascinating to flip through at random to learn things like how to sew an apron, how to hang a tire swing, how to play lawn games, how to fix and maintain showerheads and how to build a fire. On the whole, the slant of this content may seem a bit gendered, but it’s safe to say all humans could amp up their home skills with the help of this book. Light illustrations, bullet points and brisk copy—dip in, dip out, done—are the name of the game here.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Finnish sisters Saara and Laura Huhta share the wealth of their successful indie clothing pattern brand, Named, in Breaking the Pattern: A Modern Way to Sew. The nifty thing about their designs is the focus on extreme adaptability: They are “designed to offer as many options for personal customization as possible,” the sisters write. They have included patterns for 10 different garments—from bags and blouses to classy cocktail dresses and jumpsuits—and claim that “it’s possible to sew at least 50 different variations of the projects,” should you wish to experiment.

Audio

Audio: January 2019

Feature by Sukey Howard

Six Four, Hideo Yokoyama’s U.S. debut, was a hit thriller. Seventeen, Yokoyama’s latest book, engagingly performed by Tom Lawrence, is not a thriller, but it is an extraordinarily gripping newsroom drama. It’s also an intensely personal look at a man who must deal with the ethical predicaments of journalism as well as his inner demons and perceived inadequacies. In 2003, as he’s attempting to climb a treacherous rock face, Kazumasa Yuuki, the protagonist and narrator, relives his days following the story of a catastrophic airline crash many years prior that killed almost all of the passengers. In 1985, Yuuki is a veteran reporter for the provincial newspaper in the prefecture where the plane went down, and he is made desk chief for the story. Determined to get as much information to the public and to the victims’ families as he can, he becomes embroiled in vicious office politics and power struggles that lead him to re-examine human nature. Yokoyama’s fast-paced procedural practically bristles with tension.

Lovely is not a word usually associated with Stephen King. But Elevation, his latest novella, which he narrates, is lovely. It is not a horror tale meant to provoke screaming—instead, it’s a beguiling parable with lessons our uncivil society would do well to learn. Scott Carey, a resident of Castle Rock, is losing large amounts of weight, yet his outward appearance doesn’t change, and he’s never felt better. His good friend, a retired doctor, doesn’t think there’s a medical explanation. That’s fine with Scott, who accepts his fate with grace. In the time left to him, he takes on the small-town bigotry aimed at his neighbors, a married lesbian couple. No details to spoil your fun—just know that when Scott goes into the dying of the light, he’s greeted with a rainbow of sparklers. 

Pardon the pun, but there’s a lot to reckon with in The Reckoning, John Grisham’s new thriller, including courtroom complications that of course won’t be set straight until the last few minutes of the audiobook. So settle in for a long, satisfying listen as you sift through the lives and lies, sins and secrets, grief and guilt of the proud Banning family of Clanton, Mississippi. On a fall morning in 1946, Pete Banning, husband, father, head of a prominent cotton-farming family and revered World War II hero who lived through hell, walked to town, murdered the Methodist pastor and would never say why, though his silence might mean dying in the electric chair. His reasons for the murder and its consequences for Pete’s two children unfold vividly as Michael Beck reads in a remarkable array of authentic accents.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Lovely is not a word usually associated with Stephen King. But Elevation, his latest novella, which he narrates, is lovely. It is not a horror tale meant to provoke screaming—instead, it’s a beguiling parable with lessons our uncivil society would do well to learn.

FictionMystery

Cozies: January 2019

Feature by Heather Seggel

Jarrett Creek, Texas, exemplifies small-town living. Neighbors look out for one another, or so you’d think. When a beloved local baking wizard, Loretta Singletary, turns up missing, police Chief Samuel Craddock realizes he missed several changes in his friend’s appearance that may have been clues. A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary is an old-fashioned story with a modern problem at its center. Terry Shames’ latest book finds the town divided over church involvement in a goat rodeo when Loretta goes missing. The discovery that she was considering online matchmaking services is mildly scandalous, and Craddock must explore the world of online dating in order to begin the investigation. The tension ratchets up when a body is found and linked back to the same dating sites, and the search for Loretta intensifies. The resolution to this tale is a bit offbeat, but the setting is lush and absorbing, and the tension builds perfectly along the way. 

Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors is Christopher Fowler’s 16th tale of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and this time we’re off to London in the swinging ’60s. Even in their youth, detectives Bryant and May had a habit of doing things their own way, and a simple assignment—keep a man alive for a weekend and get him to court to testify on Monday morning—takes several hard left turns. There’s slapstick comedy and swift wordplay (the duo’s word games are briefly upstaged by Bryant dangling upside down from a trellis during a window escape) as well as food for thought. Standout moments include exchanges between hippies in love with the idea of freedom and the elders who fought in World War II but don’t see their own definition of “freedom” in loose morals and patchouli fumes. If this is your first outing with Bryant and May, you’ll want to read them all.

It seems that Major Sir Robert and Lady Lucy Kurland need only drop in on a new city for a death to occur. Thankfully they’ve become so adept at sleuthing they can almost schedule it alongside their travel itinerary. In Death Comes to Bath, the sixth in Catherine Lloyd’s series, Robert has had a medical setback, so the pair, along with Lucy’s sister, travels to “take the waters” in England’s famed Roman baths. After befriending an older gentleman, the pair is dismayed when he drowns, and foul play is apparent. Lloyd balances period history (Robert was injured in the Battle of Waterloo), a tense romantic subplot and some extravagant vacation shopping while respecting the grave nature of the crime. Class divisions—and the way money can help one surmount them—make for a rich suspect pool. It may be cruel to hope Robert and Lucy keep visiting new cities, given what tends to happen, but watching this duo in action is a joy. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Jarrett Creek, Texas, exemplifies small-town living. Neighbors look out for one another, or so you’d think. When a beloved local baking wizard, Loretta Singletary, turns up missing, police Chief Samuel Craddock realizes he missed several changes in his friend’s appearance that may have been clues. A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary is an old-fashioned story with a modern problem at its center.

Biography

Well Read: January 2019

Feature by Robert Weibezahl

American readers’ Western bias has left the Chinese poet Li Bai less well-known here than in his native land, where he is considered a foundational writer. The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai, a new biography of the poet by author Ha Jin (Waiting, The Boat Rocker), is a worthy corrective and an engaging introduction to the poet’s life and work. 

Considering that Bai (also known as Li Po) lived from 700-762 A.D., a surprising amount is known about his life, although much of that information is shrouded in inconsistencies, myths and questions with answers that are forever lost to time. Jin does an admirable job sorting the wheat from the chaff. He asserts that there are three versions of Bai: the actual man, the self-created image and the legend shaped by history and culture.

There is little information available about Bai’s childhood, but it is believed that his father was Han Chinese while his mother was from an ethnic minority tribe. This mixed parentage, Jin feels, allowed Bai room for self-invention. Bai’s father was a successful merchant in China’s western frontier, and he hoped his son would secure an influential government position. Bai had other ideas, however, and he spent much of his life traveling as a kind of minstrel, seeking Daoist enlightenment and composing poems, about a thousand of which survive today. Jin tells us that Bai had no strong feelings of attachment to any one place, and his rootlessness is central to much of his poetry. 

“As a constant traveler, his essence would exist in his endless wanderings and in his yearning for a higher order of existence,” Jin writes. “He was to roam through the central land as a miraculous figure of sorts, as people later fondly nicknamed him the Banished Immortal.”

Yet Bai had an earthy side—he drank freely, married numerous times and fathered children. He was a lover of women, but while he was the quintessential romantic poet, he did not seem to love any real woman with the level of passion that appears in his poems.

As Jin traces Bai’s lifelong journey, he provides a healthy sampling of poems, which are meditative and philosophical, often sensual, sometimes rapturous. Jin acknowledges that the perfection of the poems is frequently lost in translation (the original Chinese versions are also provided), but readers will still see why Bai’s poems have spoken for centuries to other poets (Ezra Pound’s loose translation of “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” is one of the modernist’s most famous poems) and readers alike.

The Banished Immortal is an affectionate and thoughtful portrait of a complicated man and a master poet. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage and has been modified from the print original which incorrectly attributed Li Bai's life to 700-762 B.C. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

American readers’ Western bias has left the Chinese poet Li Bai less well-known here than in his native land, where he is considered a foundational writer. The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai, a new biography of the poet by author Ha Jin (Waiting, The Boat Rocker), is a worthy corrective and an engaging introduction to the poet’s life and work. 

Romance

Romance: January 2019

Feature by Christie Ridgway

Brace for adventure when reading Amanda Bouchet’s Nightchaser, the first in a new sci-fi romance series. Captain Tess Bailey is on the run, having stolen a valuable, dangerous serum from a conformist galactic government that brutally insists on order and restraint. Finding temporary refuge after a particularly close call, the captain meets cocky and charming Shade Ganavan, who says he can provide much-needed repairs to her ship and perhaps some personal diversion, as Tess is weary of always watching over her shoulder. But danger is headed their way—will Shade prove to be ally or foe? This is pure, engrossing entertainment as Bouchet deftly builds a galactic world that desperately needs rebel champions like Tess and her crew. Characters’ backgrounds and motivations are slowly revealed throughout what is otherwise a fast-paced, action-packed story. There’s mystery, tension and more than enough romance to grab the heart.

Jayne Ann Krentz offers a smooth blend of romance and suspense in Untouchable. Cold case investigator Jack Lancaster is making strides in overcoming his horrifying nightmares with the help of Winter Meadows, a hypnotist and meditation guide. He might not know exactly what lies beneath her positive attitude and bright smile, but he’s intrigued enough to take their business relationship in a different direction. But when Winter’s life is threatened, Jack becomes worried that someone from his past might have tried to hurt him through her. In order to protect Winter, he must hunt down the man who tried to burn him alive many years ago. Some satisfyingly creepy villains, the atmospheric Pacific Northwest setting and a splash of potent sexual chemistry between the two leads let the reader know they’re in the hands of a master storyteller.

First loves find another chance in The Duke I Once Knew by Olivia Drake. The youngest daughter of landed gentry, Abigail Linton devoted her early life to caring for her invalid mother. Now her parents are gone, and at nearly 30, Abby opts to take a governess position on a neighboring estate. Caring for the absent duke’s younger sister will give her a new and independent life, so she ignores her worries that she’ll encounter the lord of the manor, Maxwell Bryce. Max was Abby’s first love, but she hasn’t seen him in 15 years. Then, unexpectedly, the duke returns and is astonished when he meets the newest member of his household. Learning to trust one another is the essence of all good romances, and that’s what Abby and Max must do, or else lose out on an opportunity for lasting love in this sweet and tender tale. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Brace for adventure when reading Amanda Bouchet’s Nightchaser, the first in a new sci-fi romance series. Captain Tess Bailey is on the run, having stolen a valuable, dangerous serum from a conformist galactic government that brutally insists on order and restraint. Finding temporary refuge after a particularly close call, the captain meets cocky and charming Shade Ganavan, who says he can provide much-needed repairs to her ship and perhaps some personal diversion, as Tess is weary of always watching over her shoulder. But danger is headed their way—will Shade prove to be ally or foe?

NonfictionBusiness & Finance

Finance: Let’s make money moves

Feature by Lily McLemore

Personal finance can be a fraught subject for anyone, but if you came of age during the 2008 economic meltdown, it can be downright terrifying. Instead of facing it head-on, many young Americans don’t talk about what’s going on in their bank accounts, and as a result, they don’t know the first thing about personal finance. Pundits are fond of telling the under-35 crowd that they need to stop buying their precious avocado toast if they ever want to buy a house, but in Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together, 30-year-old comedian, author and financial podcast host Gaby Dunn makes it clear that the financial hurdles and morphing job market faced by her fellow millennials are far more difficult to navigate than the ones faced by their parents. 

Silently struggling with your finances while feeling guilty and ashamed about your lack of know-how won’t get you anywhere, and Dunn advises that letting go of those feelings is the first step toward a brighter, more bountiful bank statement. She lays out the basics of how finances work with good humor and friendly prose, clarifying the perplexing and cryptic language of taxes, 401Ks and investing while offering advice on how to create a budget, choose a credit card, find an insurance plan and manage young America’s kryptonite: student loan debt. Dunn admits that she used to be terrible with money, but she learned a lot through her various money missteps, and she wants to share that hard-earned wisdom with the financially clueless out there. Anyone overwhelmed by the murky, flawed system of finances in America will find an honest, helpful guide in Dunn. 

Elizabeth White represents a different demographic of the financially unmoored. She has worked at the World Bank, holds an MBA from Harvard and started her own company with her mother. After eight years and the dissolution of that company, she re-entered the job market at age 47, certain that her stellar resume would land her a job fairly quickly. But years went by with no steady source of income. Short, unfulfilling job stints and freelance work saw her turning 60 with a rapidly dwindling number in her bank account and rapidly rising panic. She was broke, and she was ashamed. Looking around, she realized that her private shame was something many older, former professionals were quietly carrying with them as well. But no one was talking about it, and no one knew what to do. 

In 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life, White offers advice, exercises and tips for the millions of Americans in their 50s and 60s who have unexpectedly found themselves struggling to stay afloat. But perhaps most importantly, she provides hope and empowerment. Throughout this book, White includes quotes and stories from boomers who are figuring out their next step, bringing home the powerful and important message: You are not alone. This is a deeply empathetic, informative and accessible book from a woman who understands—because she’s been there. 

Perhaps an antidote to financial frustration is to understand, fundamentally, how we arrived at our current financial landscape and where our world economy can go from here. Renowned English economist and social science expert Paul Collier takes a broad view of our economic climate in The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties and asks the big questions: How did we get here, and what do we do now? Collier lays bare the inherited flaws of Western society’s corrupted capitalism and how it has failed us. As the gap between the rich and the poor grows wider, other divisions become more pronounced, and contempt blossoms. In such an environment, something must change—and soon. Collier eschews political partisanship, instead presenting practical, deeply researched arguments for ethics-based capitalism to heal a deeply fissured society. Bringing morality and ethics back into the economic and public-policy discourse is the only solution. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Taking an honest look at your financial situation can provoke a panoply of unpleasant emotions, and let’s be honest—finances are boring. Understanding the complex, jargon-filled American financial system can be difficult, but these three new books work to dispel the mysteries and put you on a course to a more stable, realistic financial future.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Illustrated tales of nonstop fun

Feature by Alice Cary

Fans of Lincoln Peirce’s Big Nate series will adore the author and cartoonist’s Max & the Midknights, a superb hybrid of chapter book and graphic novel that’s packed with nonstop adventure, dragons, wizards and flying rats. The daring, wise-cracking Max (who discovers she’s actually a girl) is stuck in the Middle Ages, longing to become a knight but acting as an apprentice to bumbling Uncle Budrick, a troubadour who’s anything but tuneful. This down-on-their luck pair courts catastrophe when they enter the Kingdom of Byjovia, where the evil King Gastley carts Uncle Budrick off to be his jester. While Max and her merry band of misfits bear a noticeable resemblance to Charlie Brown and his buddies (Charles Schulz is one of Peirce’s inspirations), these characters have a modern Wimpy Kid vibe.

In the second adventure of his Mac B., Kid Spy series, Caldecott Medal-winning author Mac Barnett recounts his supposed youthful adventures in 1989 as an espionage agent in Mac B., Kid Spy: The Impossible Crime. One moment, young Mac B. is playing mini golf in Castro Valley, California, and the next the queen of England is summoning him via pay phone to help her protect the crown jewels. Three hundred years ago, Colonel Thomas Blood stole them, and the queen believes one of his heirs will try to steal them again on the anniversary of this real-life 17th-century crime. The action never stops in this light-hearted adventure that’s fueled by Barnett’s jaunty narration, jokes galore and Mike Lowery’s entertaining, full-color cartoon illustrations. The plot may be preposterous, but it’s hard not to enjoy the ride.

Family dynamics are decidedly tricky for Happy Conklin Jr., a 10-year-old who has to shave three times a day after being experimented on by his inventor father. In 2018’s How to Sell Your Family to Aliens, Hap battled his authoritarian grandma, and in How to Properly Dispose of Planet Earth, he longs to be lab partners with Nevada Everly, the new girl in his science class. Hap manages to befriend her, but he also opens up a black hole that threatens to swallow his school—and the solar system. In this rollicking sci-fi adventure by New Yorker cartoonist Paul Noth, Hap and his superpowered sisters endure extraordinary exploits reminiscent of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” with appearances by Genghis Khan, magical lizards and a gigantic robot. There’s never a dull moment in this outlandish romp. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Playful illustrations make super stories even better, and these three action-packed novels for young readers are chock full of them.
FictionDebut Fiction

The mountains are calling

Feature by G. Robert Frazier

Certain places have a tremendous power to influence people, informing their choices and inspiring their lives, past and present. For the lead characters in two remarkable novels from Jess Montgomery and Mesha Maren, the Appalachian Mountains hold sway.

In Montgomery’s The Widows, the coal mining industry of Rossville, Ohio, in 1925 serves as the ominous backdrop to the lives of Lily Ross and Marvena Whitcomb. The story opens with a catastrophic mining explosion of methane gas that kills Marvena’s husband, John, which is soon followed by the death of Lily’s husband, Sheriff Daniel Ross, at the hands of an escaped inmate.

While Marvena fights to unionize mine workers for safer conditions and better wages, Lily assumes the mantle of acting sheriff in order to track down and apprehend her husband’s killer. Unaware that Daniel has been killed, Marvena goes to his house to ask his help in finding her missing 16-year-old daughter, Eula. Lily promises to help in Marvena’s search, oblivious to the fact that Marvena sought out Daniel’s assistance because of their prior relationship. Standing in their respective ways is the coal company and its Pinkerton detectives, thugs hired as enforcers to keep the coal miners in line, even as local politicians and law enforcement officials look the other way.

Inspired by the real lives of Ohio’s first female sheriff, Maude Collins, and community organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, The Widows is told in alternating chapters from the two women’s points of view. This is the first book published by author Sharon Short under the pseudonym Jess Montgomery, and her writing is brisk, yet it lingers long enough to indulge readers with beautiful prose along the way.

In Maren’s debut novel, Sugar Run, characters looking for a fresh start are also drawn to the Appalachian Mountains, specifically a tiny village in rural West Virginia, where fracking and drug running have all but replaced coal mining and moonshining.

The novel follows two eras in the life of Jodi McCarty, with the bulk of the story set in 2007 as she tries to acclimate to freedom after 18 years in prison for manslaughter. Guilt-ridden over the death of her former lover, Paula Dulett, Jodi is compelled to seek out and then look after Paula’s younger brother, Ricky, now grown but mentally handicapped as a result of a beating he took at the hands of his abusive father.

Along the way, Jodi meets Miranda Matheson, the young mother of three children, who has left her country music-star husband and his drug-addicted lifestyle. Jodi, perhaps yearning for what she once had with Paula and a chance at a do-over, brings Miranda and her boys home with her. But Jodi’s hopes for a fresh start are almost immediately dashed when she learns that the West Virginia property her grandmother left to her has been snatched up by a Florida investor. As Jodi struggles to find a job and resorts to the drug trade just to make ends meet, Miranda once again falls for her former husband.

An accomplished short story writer, Maren makes her debut count with emotionally charged prose and a sense of the yearning we all have for home.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Behind the Book feature by Jess Montgomery on The Widows.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The Appalachian Mountains hold sway for the lead characters in two remarkable novels from Jess Montgomery and Mesha Maren.

NonfictionFictionMemoir

The Hold List: Books to warm you from inside out

Feature by bookpagedev

If your primary tactic for surviving the winter is to drag a big blanket into a cozy chair and hibernate with the most inspiring books you can find, then these five reads, selected in partnership with Vintage Books, are for you.

The Stars Are Fire
By Anita Shreve

Shreve’s novel draws inspiration from Maine’s history and follows a young woman as she comes into her own after a devastating fire in 1947. The disaster destroys over a quarter of a million acres and ushers in a new life for Grace Holland, whose husband goes missing during the fire. Now effectively a widow with children to raise by herself, Grace begins to build something new from the ashes. As she slowly realizes how stifling her marriage was, she tentatively opens herself up to a new life and new love. Shreve captures the joy of self-discovery in this stunning novel.

Lab Girl
By Hope Jahren

Laugh, cry and fall madly in love with the world around you while reading paleobiologist Jahren’s bestselling memoir, an entertaining, spirited look into the world of plant researchers. Whether she’s sharing the challenges of being a female scientist or the unique relationship she has with her lab partner, Jahren displays an effervescent, clear-eyed delight in her subjects, and never more so than in her insights into the natural world. Even if science and nature books aren’t your cuppa, Jahren’s descriptive writing style makes this an enjoyable reading experience for just about anyone.

Magic Hours 
By Tom Bissell

Take a break from wintry binge-watching with this updated edition of celebrated cultural critic Bissell’s 2012 collection of essays on the act of creating. The 18 passionate essays are an aerobic dance between highbrow and lowbrow, exploring our culture through its creations, whether it’s a sitcom, a documentary on the Iraq War, the cult classic film The Room, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest or a movie made in Bissell’s hometown in northern Michigan. There’s so much to enjoy here, but it’s a particular pleasure to read his gleeful takedown of how-to books, especially those that will (supposedly) tell you how to write.

Swimming in the Sink
By Lynne Cox

In a straightforward, candid style, Cox shares a comeback tale that’ll have you flipping the pages like you’re reading a thriller instead of an inspiring sports memoir. Legendary open-water swimmer Cox has a unique ability to acclimatize to extreme cold (jealous, much?), which has allowed her to swim the Bering Strait, among other frigid waters. But after the deaths of her parents, Cox was diagnosed with broken heart syndrome, which seemed to mark the end of her swimming life. But behold the power of mindfulness and positivity, because Cox learns to swim again—beginning in her sink.

Nobody’s Fool
By Richard Russo

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Russo knows a little something about the human heart, and hope blooms like your most stubborn houseplant in this folksy, poignant tale set in the blue-collar town of North Bath, New York. Centering on down-on-his-luck, 60-year-old Donald “Sully” Sullivan (his knee is bad, he drinks a little too much), it’s a perfect balance of little tragedies and dark comic relief. Once you’ve gotten well acquainted with the town’s wonderful characters—as well as you might any neighbor in a small town—you can pick up Everybody’s Fool, which returns to Sully’s world, 10 years later, for another old-fashioned tale.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If your primary tactic for surviving the winter is to drag a big blanket into a cozy chair and hibernate with the most inspiring books you can find, then these five reads, selected in partnership with Vintage Books, are for you.

Romance

Improper secrets and illicit affairs

Feature by Elizabeth Mazer

There’s something so delectable about a really juicy secret. The right kind of mystery or surprise hits a story like an earthquake, rattling things off the shelves and leaving everyone scrambling for stable footing. A secret can bring a story to life, lighting a fire under the characters and forcing them to decide what they truly value and how far they’ll go to protect themselves and their loved ones.

A HOUSE OF SCANDAL
Thomas Powell, heir to the Duke of Northfield and hero of Eva Leigh’s Dare to Love a Duke, is rich, handsome, capable, privileged, spoiled, dissolute and so bored with it all that the reader half expects him to run off to join the circus just to do something new. He believes he’s seen it all, until a friend takes him to a masked, equal opportunity sex club straight out of Eyes Wide Shut. Yet even when he’s surrounded by carnality in every imaginable combination, the only person to catch his eye is the beautiful and mysterious manager of the Orchid Club, Lucia Marini. Thomas’ pursuit of her is halted when his father unexpectedly dies, leaving him the title, the estate, a heavy load of responsibilities on his shoulders—and the absolutely stunning discovery that his staid, conservative father was the owner of the Orchid Club.

The club scenes are so sensually described by Leigh that they might have overshadowed the main plot if the characters were any less engaging and dynamic than Lucia and Tom. As it is, the wanton adventurousness of the club can’t hold a candle to the heat and tension that sparks between our hero and heroine, whether they’re dressed or not. The same passion they bring to the bedroom is reflected in all the aspects of their lives, as Tom grapples with how to balance his conscience and his sense of duty, and Lucia struggles to build a legacy she can be proud of in spite of a troubled past. Their road to happily ever after isn’t smooth or easy (where would be the fun in that?), but it leads to a fun and quite satisfying ride.

A HIDDEN PAST
By contrast, the heroine in Elizabeth Hoyt’s Not the Duke’s Darling seems like a perfectly respectable lady’s companion—as long as you aren’t aware of the spy work Freya de Moray secretly performs for the order of Wise Women, or the dark scandal in her past. But all her secrets risk exposure during at a house party where she’s targeted by witch hunters and in turn forced to interact with the man she blames for destroying her family. When Freya recognizes Christopher Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe, she vows that she won’t waste this opportunity for revenge. The chemistry flaring between them is just the fiery passion of her hatred, right? Surely, it couldn’t be anything else . . .

There are so many secrets and scandals in this story that what I’ve written so far barely scratches the surface. (Are you looking for a neighbor who might be hiding matrimonial murder? This book has it. How about a secret affair with compromising letters leading to blackmail? Yep, they’re here, too.) There’s never a dull moment in Not the Duke’s Darling, and many of the truths revealed are genuinely shocking. But the biggest surprise may be how naturally the relationship between the characters grows from animosity, to attraction, to compassion, to respect. Falling in love with the “enemy” can be a hard sell, but Hoyt masters it beautifully. Most interestingly, the biggest obstacle between the two ends up being the future, rather than the past. In a period when wives were treated as not-very-bright pets rather than partners, Freya has trouble imagining giving up her independence. It takes a leap of faith to realize that Christopher truly sees her the way she wants to be seen, and intends to build a life with her as equals. Talk about shocking!

There’s something so delectable about a really juicy secret. The right kind of mystery or surprise hits a story like an earthquake, rattling things off the shelves and leaving everyone scrambling for stable footing.

Science Fiction & FantasyNonfictionFiction

Book Clubs: January 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

TOP PICK
Set in the not-too-distant future, The Power is a chilling sci-fi novel expertly executed by award-winning British author Naomi Alderman. In Alderman’s alternate world, women have recently gained the ability to release waves of electricity through their fingertips—and the jolts can kill. Their lethal facility grants them physical supremacy over men, altering the fabric of society. The novel focuses on a few central characters, including Margot, a politician who learns through her young daughter that she, too, has the power; Allie, an orphan who falls in with a circle of nuns and begins touting a new religion; and Tunde, a would-be journalist whose video of a woman unleashing electricity goes viral. Alderman’s convincing and disturbing vision of the future has been compared to The Handmaid’s Tale. Selected as a best book of 2017 by NPR and the New York Times, this hypnotic novel offers futuristic thrills even as it explores important questions of gender and identity.

 

No Time to Spare
by Ursula K. Le Guin

This delightful volume brings together the late, beloved author’s crisply composed meditations on aging, cats and the craft of writing.

 

Everything Here Is Beautiful
by Mira T. Lee

The future looks bright for Lucia Bok—until she is beset by a recurring mental illness. The resulting turmoil upends her and her family’s lives as they struggle with important questions about tradition and marriage.

 

Love and Ruin
by Paula McLain

In this exhilarating novel, McLain delivers an unforgettable portrait of pioneering reporter Martha Gellhorn, who holds her own against a formidable husband—literary titan Ernest Hemingway.

 

Tangerine
by Christine Mangan

It’s 1956 in Morocco, and a twisted friendship between two women is about to explode. Exotic and suspenseful, Mangan’s bestselling debut novel is a true page-turner.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

New in paperback for January 2019—5 recommendations for book clubs!

NonfictionSocial ScienceReligion & SpiritualityPoliticsCrafts, Hobbies & HomeBusiness & Finance

Resolutions: New year, new you!

Feature by the editors of BookPage

You've got goals, and we've got the books to help you achieve them. Tackle your resolutions with these 10 books.

The Formula: The Universal Laws of Succes
By Albert-László Barabási

RESOLUTION: Work better, not harder, to reach your goals.
FRESH TAKE: If life were a fair fight, talent plus work ethic is all you’d need to succeed—but we’ve all been passed over for opportunities we’re qualified for. With this data-driven book, Albert-László Barabási explores the universal forces that affect our likelihood of success or failure.
GOOD ADVICE: The differences among top contenders in any category are so tiny that they’re essentially immeasurable—which means wine connoisseurs only know so much, and a nice Pinot can come at any price.

Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection
By Haemin Sunim

RESOLUTION: Practice self-love (beyond just buying bath bombs).
FRESH TAKE: In this gentle, kindhearted guide to inner peace, the Zen Buddhist teacher Haemin Sunim argues that if one begins with self-acceptance, one will have greater empathy for others and an easier time adapting to life’s trials.
GOOD AVICE: When beset with negative emotions, observe your own feelings and then try to trace them back to their roots. You might realize that a bad experience in your past or a subconscious insecurity is influencing your behavior.

How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment—the Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life
By Sophie Hannah

RESOLUTION: Embrace your negative side.
FRESH TAKE: Novelist Sophie Hannah believes that nursing one’s grudges can lead to greater self-knowledge, personal growth and healthier boundaries.
GOOD ADVICE: By using Hannah’s hilarious grudge-grading system, you can channel your angry feelings into a deeper understanding of your own values and set necessary boundaries.

No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work
By Liz Fosslien & Mollie West Duffy

RESOLUTION: Feel great about your work.
FRESH TAKE: Two former tech workers offer a fresh, funny approach to handling workplace relationships. By leaning on emotional intelligence, you, too, can navigate the pitfalls of modern office life. 
GOOD ADVICE: Establish context and trust with colleagues by using “richer communication” channels like voice chat before relying on written, and often misinterpreted, methods like email and instant messages.

Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More
By Elizabeth Emens

RESOLUTION: Overcome invisible labor.
FRESH TAKE: From disputing bills to planning a vacation, Elizabeth Emens introduces readers to the concept of admin, our sometimes onerous daily to-do list. Through relatable anecdotes, she breaks down the types of admin in our lives and offers advice on balancing tasks and relationships.
GOOD ADVICE: Talk with your partner about how to divvy up household duties before moving in together or getting married.

Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age
By Mary Pipher

RESOLUTION: Chart the course for the next phase of your life.
FRESH TAKE: Women face many challenges as they age: misogyny, ageism and physical changes. Yet psychologist Mary Pipher shows that most older women are more content than their younger selves. Pipher offers warm, empathetic guidelines for navigating aging and for recognizing its unexpected gifts. 
GOOD ADVICE: Every life stage is filled with pain and difficulties. The challenges and changes presented by aging are different, but they also present new ways to learn about yourself and cultivate empathy. 

The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You
By Ralph De La Rosa

RESOLUTION: Finally get into mindfulness and meditation.
FRESH TAKE: Everyone knows we should be meditating, but what if your thoughts just won’t shut up? Ralph De La Rosa draws on Buddhism, neuroscience and psychology to posit that instead of growing increasingly frustrated with these intrusive thoughts, we should accept them as a part of ourselves and use them as a tool to understand ourselves better. 
GOOD ADVICE: Try not to allow circumstances to dictate your emotions. Instead, accept circumstances and view them as an opportunity for growth and learning. 

Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol
By Ruby Warrington

RESOLUTION: Be more mindful of your alcohol intake.
FRESH TAKE: Going without alcohol may sound like an extreme lifestyle change and, frankly, a really dull one. But Ruby Warrington is here to tell you, nonjudgmentally, that cutting out alcohol doesn’t mean you’ll become boring, and it can lead to a happier life, filled with better sleep, health and relationships. 
GOOD ADVICE: If you’re worried about all the fun you’ll miss out on while sober, remind yourself of the phenomenon known as “euphoric recall,” in which an experience is misremembered in a far more positive light than the reality. That epic bachelor party five years ago? It perhaps wasn’t as epic as you remember—but the hangover you’re forgetting no doubt was.

Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things
By Rosemary Davidson & Arzu Tahsin

RESULTION: Pick up a creative hobby.
FRESH TAKE: Rosemary Davidson and Arzu Tahsin have crafted (sorry) a well-researched guide to the meditative, restorative and mood-lifting effects of working with your hands on a craft or creative pursuit. Filled with advice on how to let go of the pressure of Pinterest perfection, how to make time for crafting in your busy schedule and even a couple of quick beginner projects to get you started, this book is as warm as the scarf you’ll be knitting.
GOOD ADVICE: For too long, we’ve all been focused on the finished product of our artistic pursuits, which can often lead us to abandon less than perfect-looking projects. But there’s joy to be found in the process of making and mending, regardless of our perceived abilities.

If You Ask Me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt
Edited by Mary Jo Binker

RESOLUTION: Sail through life with presidential aplomb.
FRESH TAKE: In 1941, the outspoken first lady Eleanor Roosevelt started an advice column. For 20 years, she doled out clever, pithy advice on love, etiquette and issues like gender and race equality. These lovely columns, collected and annotated by Mary Jo Binker, provide sound advice as well as a look into the life and thinking of a legendary first lady.
GOOD ADVICE: Roosevelt was adamant about gender equality in her personal life, writing that she thinks “people are happier in marriage when neither is the boss” and that all relationships are best built on “unselfishness and flexibility.” 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

You've got goals, and we've got the books to help you achieve them. Tackle your resolutions with these 10 books.

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