FLL Friend

 

“Reading brings us unknown friends.” - Honoré de Balzac

I missed posting yesterday because the day got away from me, but that’s okay. I had to make a trip to see my mom yesterday and that gave me the opportunity to drop off some books at a Free Little Library.  When I parked by the FLL, I could see a young man browsing the selections. I waited until he was done and was walking away before getting out of my car with my books. He turned around, noticed me and yelled “Are you putting those in the library? Can I see them?” He ran over to me and we spent a few minutes looking at the books I was donating. I asked him what kinds of books he liked to read. He said he was looking for how to manuals and spy novels. We talked about books for a few minutes and then he went on his way. Our chat was a bright spot just when I needed it. Books are good for the soul. 

How’s everyone’s week going? Any weekend plans you’re looking forward to? 

#freelittlelibrary #booksbooksbooks #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #bookworm #booknerd #bookstagram #readerlife #lovetoread 

My American Dream

 

Author: Lidia Bastianich 

Publisher: Vintage

Year: 2018

“Preparing, cooking, and sharing food are fundamental ways to show love and care for others; when you share food, you share life.”

Chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich recounts her life, immigration to America, and her career success in her autobiography My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food. Bastianich had an idyllic childhood on the Istrian peninsula. Her love of food and cooking came from her grandmother. She spent a lot of time on her grandparents’ small farm and learned to care for the animals, grow fruits and vegetables, and cook simple yet delicious meals. When Istria was annexed to communist Yugoslavia, her parents made decision to escape to Italy. The family spent two years living in a refugee camp before immigrating to the US. 

Lidia’s story of her life in their new country is one of hard work and taking risks. She worked in a variety of restaurants and absorbed as much knowledge of the business as she could. After getting married, she and her husband operated two small successful restaurants before opening a renowned NYC restaurant where Lidia served as the chef. She later went on to star in her own cooking show and has authored numerous cookbooks. 

This was my book club’s read for the month. Lidia certainly has a heartwarming and interesting story to tell. Her themes of family and hard work resonate throughout the book. This is not a cookbook full of recipes, but the descriptions of the simple meals she prepared with her grandmother and then the food served at her restaurants are mouthwatering. I found her explanation of the differences between Italian American and classic Northern Italian dishes was really interesting. This is perfect for fans of Lidia’s tv series or foodies looking for a heartfelt of story of one woman’s love and determination to share the cuisine of her childhood. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Are you a foodie? Do you love to cook? I’m go through phases. Some weeks I like to cook and other times I don’t want to bother and I’m happy with a bowl of cereal for dinner. 

#lidiabastianich #knopfbooks #cooking #immigration #restaurantlife #restaurantuer #chef #cheflife #autobiography #memior #italianfood #italiancooking #bookstagram #backlistbook

Hard Cash Valley

 

Author: Brian Panowich 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Year: 2020

Arnie Blackwell is a life-long loser who just made a big score. He lands in Florida with a suitcase full of cash and plans for the high life. Then he is brutally murdered. 

Dane Kirby, a retired arson investigator now working for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is called in to assist the FBI’s investigation of Blackwell’s death and help find Blackwell’s missing young brother. 

Dane is a man haunted by the deaths of his wife and daughter. His grief is palpable like a weight around his neck. He’s tried to move on, but he’s too guilt ridden and grief-ladened. Dane is paired with Roselita Velasquez, a perceptive and tough FBI agent. The investigation and search for for eleven year old William Blackwell takes Dean back to his hometown and up into Bull Mountain. Long buried secrets surface and Dane must confront his own demons along with psychopathic killer and FBI agents with their own agendas to try to save the boy and get off the mountain alive. 

Author Brian Panowich has crafted a masterwork of modern-day rural Southern noir. At just under 300 pages, Panowich sows together a intricate crime novel filled with vicious and bruised characters. His writing is brutally real and economical. He’s pared the story down so that he doesn’t waste a word and the reader doesn’t get lost in any extraneous fluff. The result is an intense, gritty, and heart-pounding crime drama. But his setting and characters and don’t suffer because of the author’s economy of words. The characters are expertly drawn and there is a real sense of place. Dane is such a vivid character. He’s a good man full of such heartbreak, guilt and grief that it’s a wonder he gets out of bed each morning. You can’t help but hope Dane can find some kind of peace as he races to save an innocent boy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#hardcashvalley #brianpanowich #minotaurbooks #crimefiction #noir #arsoninvestigation #missingperson #georgia #southernnoir #bookrecommendations #fbi #greatread #fivestarread #asburgersyndrome #grief #fbispecialagent #thrillerbooks 

Take Me with You When You Go

 

Authors: David Levithan and Jennifer Niven

Publisher: Random House Children’s

Year: 2021

Two months shy of her high school graduation, 18 year-old Bea disappears without a trace. She couldn’t take her abusive stepfather and uncaring mother one more day. So she left, but she left behind her younger brother Ezra. 

The story is told through a series of alternating emails between Ezra and Bea. The siblings have a lot of emotions to unpack. Their mom has seeming turned against them since marrying her second husband. Their stepfather has made the household a nightmare of emotional and physical abuse. They haven’t heard from their biological dad since their parents split up. It’s a lot. But authors David Levitation and Jennifer Niven know how to write teen characters with care and emotion. Bea discovers she is not totally alone and that there are good people willing to help. Ezra learns that he doesn’t have to carry his burdens alone and to open up to those who care for him. 

The email format of the book makes for short chapters and a quick read. Bea and Ezra come across as realistic teens- impulsive, petulant at times, scared, and yet still hopeful. This is perfect for teen readers looking for realistic fiction and fans of the authors’ previous works. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley , the authors, and random house children’s for the review copy of the ebook. Take Me with You When You Go publishes Aug. 31st. 

We’re on the road today. Our son in law graduates from the police academy today. What’s new with you? 

#takemewithyouwhenyougo #davidlevithan #jenniferniven #randomhousechildrensbooks #siblings #dysfunctionalfamily #emotionalabuse #runaway #teenfiction #comtemporaryfiction #realisticfiction #yabooks #yafiction #ireadya #lqbtq #netgalley #giftedbook #bibliophile #publishingsoon #bookstagram #readreadread 

Alone

 

Author: Megan E. Freeman

Narrator: Gail Shalan

Publisher: Simon Audio

Year: 2021

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the #giftedbook. 

Could you survive all by yourself in a deserted town without electricity or cell service? 

Alone, by debut author Megan E. Freeman, is a novel in verse about a girl who finds herself in a desperate situation. Maddie makes a plan with her two best friends for a secret sleepover at her grandparents unoccupied apartment. When her friends can’t make it, Maddie stays at her grandparents anyway. She wakes up the next morning to frantic voicemails from her parents and her small Colorado town deserted. She quickly turns on the tv to discover her town was evacuated due to an unnamed eminent threat and all the citizens have been relocated to…somewhere. Maddie quickly goes in search of her family and anyone else who could help her. She is the only one left and she’s cut off from everyone. Maddie must make a plan to survive, to find enough food and water to last until she is rescued, to survive the brutal Colorado winter. 

Maddie is smart and resourceful. She takes in her neighbor’s dog George so she has some companionship to ease her loneliness. She gets books from the library about survival. She makes mistakes, but she learns how to deal.  Kudos to the author for including Maddie getting her first period and how lonely it makes her without her mother there with her. Most novels don’t often address bodily functions but this little scene makes the character and her isolation real and it’s something teen girls can relate to. 

This is quick and engrossing read with short chapters. Narrator Gail Shalan does a superb job giving Maddie a voice full of strength, sadness, and wonder. Middle grade and teen readers will identify with Maddie’s loneliness and her determination to survive. This is perfect for fans of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, Jean Craighead George’s My Side of the Mountain, or the I Survived series. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#alone #meganefreeman #gailshalan #simonaudio #audiobook #audiobookstagram #audiobooksofinstagram #middlegradebooks #survivalfiction #novelinverse #middlegrade #mglit #teenbooks #yabooks #middlegradedfiction #debuteauthor #colorado #loneliness #survive #bibilofile #bibliophile 

Billy Summers

 

Author: Stephen King

Narrator: Paul Sparks

Publisher: Simon Audio

Year: 2021

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you Simon Audio for the #giftedbook. 

Billy Summers is a gun for hire. He was a sniper in the military and now it’s his profession. But he only takes jobs where the target is a bad person. Billy is ready to retire, but he’s offered one last job. And the money being offered is good- maybe too good. He decides to take the job even though his gut says walk away. He really should have walked away. 

King is a master storyteller and this narrative just flows. It’s part character study and part slow burning thriller. We see how Billy changes while waiting for the target on this last job. Billy is forced to put down temporary roots while waiting and suddenly finds himself having neighbors and making friends. His cover story is he’s a writer working on a book. And secretly, Billy has always wanted to try to write and now he has the opportunity. I loved the book within a book concept. Billy’s writing becomes just as important to him as completing the job. 

Nothing is ever easy and this last job sends Billy on a hero’s journey of survival, payback, and redemption. King knows when to ramp up the tension, tug at the heartstrings, and adds just a dash of spectral weirdness to keep readers on their toes. Narrator Paul Sparks does an outstanding job bringing the story to life. There’s a plethora of characters and he does exceptional work giving them all a distinct voice. King’s writing is sharp and makes an engrossing and compelling page turner. Add this one to your TBR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Happy Friday! 😀 Any plans for the weekend? I’m visiting my parents on Sunday. 

#billysummers #stephenking #paulsparks #simonaudio #audiobook #audiobooksofinstagram #bookrecommendations #bibliophiles #readerlife #giftedbook #herosjourney #hitman #sniper #greatreads #booksta #booklove #bookworm #fivestarbook 

Dead-End Jobs

 

Editor: Andy Rausch 

Publisher: Down and Out Books 

Year: 2021 

It’s #thrillerthursday! 

Dead-End Jobs is short story anthology all featuring contract killers. Some hitmen in the stories are seasoned professionals and others are just starting out. The locations in the stories range from cities to backwoods rural areas and even a bucolic resort. The list of authors is varied and includes Joe R. Lansdale and Max Allan Collins. 

This was a Twitter made me buy it moment for me. S.A. Cosby, author of the best-seller Razorblade Tears, tweeted about how good this book is, so I had to give it a try. I liked that it was a collection of short stories from indie publisher Down and Out Books  I wasn’t familiar with some of the authors, so It was nice to get a sample of their writing style through these short stories. This was a fun escape into the seamy world of guns for hire and is perfect for fans of hard-boiled crime fiction. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What’s going on in your little corner of the world? Looks like rain here most of day. When I took the dogs out earlier, only one wanted to go for a walk. The other stayed under the covered part of the deck and watched us go off in the rain. 

#deadendjobs #hitman #anthology #shortstories #indiepress #indiepublisher #downandoutbooks #gunforhire #assassin #crimefictionthriller #crimefiction #hardboiledthriller  #twittermademedoit #kindle #amazonkindlebooks #booknerd #bookstagram #contractkiller #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #joerlansdale #maxallancollins #quarry