I crave books

This little book caught my attention because I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately and this simple format (no mention of the dreaded d word) appealed to me. After reading through it (and finding out I’ve been ordering the totally wrong thing at Jimmy John’s) I think I might have to buy it (and I don’t buy a lot of books).

For a small book (it’s a square format - I think to make it easier to take with you) there’s a lot of information packed inside. In addition to the “Eat this, not that” choices for many restaurants, there’s an “Eat this, not that” section for holiday meals and for at the grocery store. Each page also has a “did you know” fact, and sprinkled throughout are “guilty pleasures” (for example, on your burger have a few pieces of bacon, just skip the cheese - as bacon as less fat and sodium) and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” which are those innocent sounding things on the menu that are chocked full of calories or fat.

This is quite the informative book and I would recommend it to everyone.

This is an excellent business book for anyone who presents ideas at work, owns a small business, attends networking events or is involved in any type of selling. It’s subtitle is: how to sell yourself (and your ideas) and win over any audience.

The first section I skimmed a lot but once I got to the second part I really started to understand what Palmer was driving at and went back and re-read the first few chapters. Based on her experience as a movie studio executive who was pitched ideas day in and day out she tells you how to handle presentations. This is full of great practical tips and provides excellent examples through the use of four fictional case studies. A particular thing I liked was later in the book when discussing how to write an effective pitch email she footnotes the email to explain why something was good or bad. Very good advice and this book goes the extra step by showing you specifically how to apply it.

Definitely going on my recommended list.

I recently listened to the second novel by this author (Sugar Queen) and really enjoyed it. So I decided to read her first novel, which was equally enchanting.

The Waverleys are a curious family with their mysterious garden in Bascom, North Carolina. Claire is a successful caterer who prepares dishes made with her mystical plants. Her elderly cousin, Evanelle is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. Then there’s Claire’s rebellious sister Sydney, who fled Bascom at 18. But she’s back, with her daughter Bay in tow, and turns Claire quiet life upside down.

I enjoyed this - it’s a quick read and features some of the same plot elements as The Sugar Queen (the magic, the star crossed lovers, the house that is almost a character itself, absent fathers).

I listened to this, instead of reading it. Audiobooks provide such a different experience than reading and I really enjoy the different perspective. This story was so good that I had to bring the CDs in and listen all afternoon as I cleaned house because I wanted to know how the story was going to end and what would happen next.

Josie, at 27, lives at home and caters to her mother. Then one day Della Lee Baker appears in her closet, determined to live there until she escapes the trouble she’s in. Della Lee starts offering Josie advice, and soon Josie once closed world opens up. This is a magical tale where the color red has magical properties, candy provides comfort and books magically appear.

I think this is a new favorite of mine. It’s not your typical romance. It’s about family secrets, finding your true self, love and friendship. Delicious as the candy that titles each chapter!

Another author I love. Must be the weekend for it.

Set in Nantucket, The Beach House, tells the interconnected stories of Nan, who at 65 is considered eccentric by the local residents; her son Michael, a jeweler who’s on the Island to escape his life; Daniel, who is struggling with his secrets; and Daff, a recent divorcee who wants to find her true self.

When they all come to Nan’s rambling house, Windermere, they form a family of friends and as each discovers their own true self.

I enjoyed the characters, the sense of place (now I’d love a summer vacation to Nantucket) and the epilogue, because I enjoy knowing what happens to my characters after the big event of the novel is resolved. I love a good epilogue.

I loved this book. I was totally inspired while reading it.

Publisher’s Synopsis: The award-winning design and development firm IDEO, which brought the world the Apple mouse, reveals its secrets to fostering innovative, out-of-the-box thinking across the world of business. In this handbook, the author outlines the steps IDEO and other successful companies use to achieve successful problem solving.

Includes information on brainstorming, teams and prototyping. Totally cool book with practical easy to implement ideas. Also, it turned my thinking on teams around as the author devotes time to discussing their “hot teams” approach and how the myth of the lone inventor is a just that a myth. I didn’t realize Edison had a team of people who worked with him, but he did and they all collaborated to come up with some of his patents.

So very inspiring. A must read business book.

A great quick YA read. Told from multiple perspectives, Holdup details a robbery at Burger Heaven in four parts. First you read about the Saturday shift workers, second the planning by the robbers, then the robbery and finally a follow up one year later.

It’s a fascinating little book and would be great for discussion. Despite the nine different main characters, each character is complete and complex.

At 163 pages it’s a perfect read for a summer day, as the action moves steadily along and you want to find out what happens to each character.

Wow. Well this was a book that had me stay in bed all morning to finish it, I was that in to the characters.

This is not your typical fluffly chick lit novel - it’s a story of friendships, motherhood and love.

Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker’s yarn shop  on the Upper West Side. She’s raising 12 year old Dakota alone but with much support from her good friend and mentor Anita. The Friday Nigh Knitting Club is improvised by some of Georgia’s regulars who need tips on knitting and end up finding much more.

Georgia is central to the story but the other supporting characters are fully drawn. And where if this was the typical chick lit book, it would’ve stopped at page 229. But instead the next 100 pages take you deeper in and show the reader the power of friendships and how sometimes the most powerful support group is the family we create.

This is a coming of age novel. It’s also a novel of loss, of allowing yourself to fall in love, and of friendship. Emily is 29 and a Manhattan lawyer, who has just broken up with her boyfriend. The break up is just the first in a series of shifts that sends her life unraveling and forces her to confront her fears to take control of her life.

I cried at the end of this book. I’m often surprised when I cry while reading. Perhaps that’s how I know somethings struck a nerve. Anyway, I enjoyed every moment of this book. The author authentically portrays what it’s like to be in your late 20s and have so many decisions looming before you.

My favorite part: when discussing the suitability of a boyfriend Emily asks, “If he needed one of your kidneys would you give it to him?”

A fabulous thriller! I stayed up way too late trying to finish this, because it grips you from page 1 and is non stop action until the end.

Newspaper Delivery Boy Jamie Gabriel disappears one morning while out delivering papers. Fourteen months later, his parents are on the verge of abandoning all hope. Crushed by dead ends and exhausted by a police force that cannot find their son, the Gabriels finally stumble upon an elusive private investigator who may represent their last chance for answers.

Non stop action. Tense, quick plotting. A tension between wanting to know the PI’s back story, and the need for resolution of Jamie’s disappearance. I enjoyed it so much I’m adding it to my recommended category.

I will forewarn readers that it is gritty, there is violence, and the resolution is quick and leaves you wanting more.