A Girl and Her Books

Willow Crier has moved to Oklahoma from parts north as a result of inheriting her grandfather’s ice cream shop and is determined to make it – and herself – a go in the tiny town of Turtle. She begins by entering cook-offs, the latest featuring chili, and encounters her first difficulty driving home with her supplies – a fellow motorist, angry that she’s ambling far below the speed limit, throws a road rage fit at Willow’s window, which she and her fellow drivers record. She shrugs it off until she shows up for the contest – and finds that the road rage lady is none other than Delonda Posey, vicious local food vlogger and one of the three competition judges. Add to that the fact that the lady in the next stall is the sanctimonious Annabelle Butterfield, who needles Willow on everything from her northern heritage to her lack of makeup, and it looks like it’s going to be a rough day. And then Delonda lands face down in a bowl of chili, instantly dead. After being quickly cleared ...

Holly is a 50-year-old mother and wife facing the crisis of her only child heading to college, not to mention her fear that her husband is having an affair, and her manuscript is seriously overdue to her editor. Her fears coalesce during a shopping trip, where she spots a elderly hunchbacked woman she fears becoming, and pours everything into a series of poems written in blank verse. The story's structure is unusual, to be sure, but ultimately offers a hackneyed story a fresh viewpoint. 

While I came to Julia Child’s My Life in France on the crest of her resurgent popularity, based on Meryl Streep’s turn in Julie & Julia, her story is always fresh for those aspiring to follow her gastronomic path to success. In this lovely book, co-authored with her husband’s grand-nephew, Alex Prud’homme, she details not only her discovery of food, cooking and the domestic life, but her relationship with the love of her life – and the man she credits for making her the household name she became – Paul Child. Covering their years in France – from Paul’s USIS assignment in 1948 to when she closed their home in Provence in 1992 – she not only covers her stint at Le Cordon Bleu, the lengthy and arduous co-production of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her enchantment with everything francais, but her long and loyal partnership with the man who devoted his life to helping her succeed in bringing European dishes to American kitchens. Filled with Paul Child’s marvelous photos an...

Dr. Baker has written a great guide to caring for your dog, and it's as important for longtime owners like me as it is for new dog parents. In simple, clear terms (no Latin words that other pet authors like to add as fluff), Dr. Baker outlines the essentials of dog care in nine chapters: Best Nutrition (explaining just about every aspect of dog food from puppyhood to old age); Keeping Your Dog at a Healthy Weight (including food tips, especially important for my rotund brown chihuahua); Fun Exercise Options for Your Dog (by following Dr. Baker's suggestion, I've found my rotund brown chihuahua enjoys paddling in an inflatable kiddie pool filled with warm water, as well as walks to the mailbox); Taking Care of Your Dog's Teeth (brush daily if your dog tolerates it -- none of mine do -- but give them chewable cleaners -- mine love Greenies -- and make sure they have a yearly dental cleaning with the vet); Protecting Your Dog from Fleas & Ticks -- how and why you sh...

This second installment of the Thunderbirds Chronicles reunites its main characters four months after the first book, Into the Dust, ended. As Augusto trains Janey in transformation, telepathy, and how to draw energy from sacred spots in the desert in order to continue her father’s work, Janey and her family are not only threatened by the gangsters who killed her father, but by secrets her loved ones are concealing. Even as Janey believes she and Augusto are working toward the same goal, she gradually discovers the breach that time travel forms between them, as well as the fact that his goals may not match hers. I received this ebook free in exchange for an honest review, and I can truly say I found the story gripping — so compelling, in fact, that I can’t wait for the next installment. However, trying to read Into the Storm without having read its predecessor is confusing, so I strongly suggest reading Into the Dust first, which is what I did.   (less)

I’ve read most of Larry McMurtry’s non-Western novels, which is habit more than enjoyment, because every time I finish one, I wonder not only why he’s lauded, but why I spent time chasing his words. More than any other “literary” novelist, he seems to make stories out of nothing at all … the page-turning equivalent of Seinfeld. And of all the characters he’s chronicled, he’s made the most out of the nothing that is Duane Moore, most recently sighted in Rhino Ranch. Moore is, as previously titled, depressed: his second wife has dumped him for another man, he’s being pursued by a teenaged porn star, and is intrigued by a globe-trotting billionaire with the urge to rescue the endangered black rhinoceros on a dusty Texas preserve. He also uses a lot of phone minutes chatting with his former therapist, Honor Carmichael, who now lives in New England with her latest lover. Duane engages in all sorts of silly behavior – the most egregious being a vasectomy – basically giving McMurtry 278 pa...

Serge A. Storms and Dexter Morgan have a lot in common. Both are Florida-based serial killers who only target those who deserve their fate, and each has a wicked sense of humor. But Dexter – in print, if not onscreen – has been hampered by his increasingly barren creator, Jeff Lindsay, while Serge’s inventor, Tim Dorsey, continues his character’s breakneck momentum into his 12th novel, juggling a complicated and intense story with antics that can only be attributed to the Sunshine State’s greatest maniac. Gator a-Go-Go reunites all the Dorsey characters that have survived so far: Coleman, City and Country, the G-Unit, the Davenports (in the form of their son Melvin), Johnny Vegas and, of course, Agent Mahoney. (Lenny and the lone surviving Diaz brother appear as drive-by references, as does the not-so-dearly-departed Sharon). The story revolves around Patrick McKenna and his son Andy, who have just been unmasked after fifteen years in the Witness Protection Program. The question run...

Pete is hiking in the the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia when they run into a fellow hiker who suddenly goes into a pain-wracked seizure. As he writhes in agony, Pete notices a glider soaring overhead that suddenly nosedives into the valley ... and they’re locked into a murder investigation. Mark the Hiker, it turns out, is an empath, and just before the glider came into view, he experienced the same pain the pilot felt as she convulsed and died before the glider hit the ground. He’s sequestered himself in a shack high on a Virginia mountain to avoid this type of incident, but his abilities haven’t diminished, despite his refusal to acknowledge them. Pete guides Mark to his boss, Vivian, at the New Age store Valley Visions, who teaches Mark how to shield himself, equipping him with the power to track down a variety of nefarious operators in the tiny Valley town of Back Mosby, as well as tangle with Ceci’s sister Gwen, a local police officer determined to debunk Mark’s abilities. Pete...

Sam, a freelance photographer, and Patty, an underpaid reporter for the Mecklenburg Weekly, meet in Davidson, NC, when he comes to her aid after her aged Honda won’t start. They quickly become friends, and when she lands a freelance magazine assignment to write about the best “hidden gem” restaurants in western North Carolina, he offers himself as her driver and professional food photographer. During their travels, they not only meet a enthusiastic chef who claims the popularity of his chocolate cake is due to a secret ingredient, but impulsively visit a gem mine, where Sam lands an astonishing find. This sets them on a path of unanticipated mountain mayhem, careening through hair-raising encounters with a filthy, grudge-holding redneck, an off-kilter bear who’s just scarfed down one of those special chocolate cakes, and the addled chef whose secrets range far beyond his ingredients. It’s a fun novella that introduces a multitude of interesting characters, and makes you want to follo...

Fun, frivolous and feisty, Southern chick lit always focuses on scrappy women refusing to sit back and take s**t, getting on with their lives even when -- yes -- their hearts are breaking. That's what Texas hairdressers/sleuths Edwina and Debbie Sue help Paige accomplish in this tale of heiresses, horse-napping and hijinks. Dixie Cash doesn't write serious literature, but the sisters behind the pen name (Pamela Cumbie & Jeffery McClanahan) create fun reads that help feisty ladies, Southern or otherwise, get through the rough patches of life.

In this fourth Bugle Boy adventure, Duane & Bugle are harangued by the new town librarian to find out who’s selling the library’s contents. Mable Marble, a retired professor who recognizes the value of the old tomes in the dusty, open-one-day-a-week library, takes over the one-room facility run by the intimidating police dispatcher Marge Defarge, who considers everything in town, including the library, her business. As the two women fight over what both believe is their territory, a former student of Dr. Marble finds a valuable first edition belonging to the library on eBay, and the furious librarian sets Duane & Bugle on a search for stolen books. Thanks to a dash of celebrity perfume and the internet, the search leads them to their needle-clacking villain. All ends well — Duane is promoted to detective, the library gets new books, and Deforest Day pulls off a fine allusion to one of Charles Dickens’ most famous villainesses.