I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

Alex Marks is a solitary, lonely young woman in New York City, grateful for a remote copywriting job, although it barely pays the rent, and her daily breakfast at the Bluebird Diner, where she has two friends, sarcastic waitress, Janice, and retired policeman, Raymond. Although it happened months ago, she is still devastated by the unsolved murder of Francis Keen, who wrote the popular Dear Constance advice column for the New York Herald.

Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles

Title: Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade
Author: Janet Skeslien Charles
Publication: Atria Books, hardcover, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: France

Description: Jessie Carson, a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library (NYPL) in 1918, is flattered when Anne Morgan, daughter of the most powerful financier in America's history, J.P. Morgan, invites and pays her way to France to help with war relief work.

Bluebird by Sharon Cameron – a German teen comes to post-war NYC on a revenge mission

Title: Bluebird
Author: Sharon Cameron
Publication: Scholastic, hardcover, 2021
Genre: YA historical fiction
Setting: WWII II Germany, Post WWII America

Description: Arriving in New York from Germany in 1946 with her friend Brigit under her wing, seventeen-year-old Eva has a deadly mission.

Tough Justice: Countdown (Book Review and Giveaway)

Title: Tough Justice: Countdown (part 1 of 8, currently priced at $.99 each)
Author: Carla Cassidy
Publication: Harlequin Intrigue, ebook, February 2017
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Giveaway: I can give away one digital copy of Book 1 - see below

Plot: Tick. Tock. BOOM.

FBI Special Agent Lara Grant had thought that she’d put her past behind her—finally—with her last case. But now a serial bomber is targeting Manhattan’s elite power players, offering them a choice between saving hundreds of lives or seeing their darkest secrets exposed. Lara is working with the Crisis Management Unit to stop the bomber, but how will she react when she’s the one who has to choose between truth…or death?

Silent City: a Claire Codella Mystery (Book Review)

Title: Silent City: a Claire Codella Mystery
Author: Carrie Smith
Publication: Crooked Lane, Hardcover, 2015
Genre: Mystery/suspense

Plot: Claire Codella, a NYC detective, is returning to her job after successfully battling cancer with months of chemo. On her first day back, she is assigned the murder of an elementary school principal, who was admired by everyone but his own staff. Self-conscious about her changed appearance and wondering if she is really ready for the stresses of the job, Claire is also aware that her supervisor resents the attention she received on an earlier case and will do her no favors if she can’t solve this crime quickly. Partnered with an appealing gay detective, Eduardo Munoz, who is also persona non grata with the bullies at the police precinct, Claire is plunged into the surprisingly cutthroat atmosphere of the Manhattan public school system as she investigates two murders, and navigates her way among teachers, parents, and coworkers.

Audience: Fans of suspense and of female detectives who don’t take garbage from anyone; I was actually reminded more of TV shows like Blue Bloods and NYPD Blue than of current mysteries but maybe that is because the sense of place was so strong.

My Impressions: This is a fast paced debut, full of interesting characters and their interrelationships, with a vivid and gritty New York setting. I like Claire, who has been through a tough time with her cancer treatment – and the one person she thought she could really rely on, her best friend and former partner, Brian Haggerty – never made it inside the hospital to visit her. Claire has learned to rely only on herself, so she has to learn all over again how to trust and when to ask for help or she will not survive a dangerous investigation:

She preferred the truth to gentle fantasy landings. During investigations she always gave the truth – as sensitively as possible, of course – to the families of the violently murdered.

Claire’s candor, her post-treatment symptoms, and her determination to handle a high profile case so well that even her unpleasant boss couldn’t complain make her a very sympathetic heroine.

I wondered if other cancer survivors would be interested in this book and identify with Claire or if they would prefer more escapism in their suspense fiction, so mentioned it to a coworker who fits that category and had just told me she wasn’t reading any more cozies! Well, this is not a cozy – there is plenty of bloodshed and the kind of language you would expect from police, so I am lending her my copy.

I liked the relationship developing between Claire and Munoz (he is taunted so unmercifully by the homophobic detectives in the Manhattan North homicide unit that I wanted to offer my legal services pro bono) and appreciated the desperate shame of her friend Haggerty who knows he let her down when she needed support. Maybe I guessed who the killer was halfway through the book but it was really about more than just finding a killer.   

Author Carrie Smith

Source: I put this on my list after reading a very favorable review in Publishers Weekly, and checked it out from the Brookline Library. According to Smith’s website, a second book is coming in December.  Recommended!

Bergdorf Blondes (Book Review)

Title: Bergdorf Blondes (10th Anniversary Edition)
Author: Plum Sykes
Publication Information:  Harper Collins Trade Paperback, 2014 (originally published 2004)
Genre: Chick Lit

Plot:  This is a satirical look at the beautiful people of New York City, specifically a nameless heroine and her friend, Julie Bergdorf (supposedly the heiress to the department store where I could barely afford to buy Laura Mercier cosmetics), 20-somethings who spend their time partying and wearing designer clothing.  When it seems like everyone they know is getting engaged and glowing attractively, she and Julie decide they too need to find eligible husbands and the rest of the book is about their misadventures as they try out various men as I would try out a new purse.  It is no surprise who the nameless heroine ends up with but it is amazing the poor choices she makes along the way.   It is hard to believe anyone who went to Princeton, even fictionally, could be quite so dimwitted.

What I liked:  The book is entertaining, if implausible; in fact, it is not meant to be taken seriously.  This glimpse of the idle Manhattan rich was a quick read for a hot summer day, and I liked the new packaging.   However, I think it would be more fun to read all day than to party with these heroines!

What I disliked: I enjoy well done chick lit but found this book very silly and predictable, albeit funny at times.  I did not care for all the (admittedly admiring) references to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and at first wondered if the book had been written before her death (it had not).  This gave it a dated feel.   And unless you are Daphne DuMaurier, please give your heroine a name, if just for the sake of the reviewer!

Source:  I received Bergdorf Blondes from the TLC Book Tours and urge you to stop by the tour to learn more about Plum Sykes and another of her books, The Debutante Divorcee.   Here are some recent stops:

Wednesday, September 3rd: Reading in Black & White – The Debutante Divorcee

Thursday, September 4th: booknerd – The Debutante Divorcee

Monday, September 8th: Mom in Love With Fiction – Bergdorf Blondes

Sykes was a Vogue editor who moved to NYC so presumably was acquainted with the sort of people in this book.  Most of the people I worked with in book publishing had too much work to go out every night, although there were a few blonde women at Wiley who were hung over every morning...

The Idea of Him (Book Review)

Title: The Idea of Him
Author: Holly Peterson

Publication Information: William Morrow, Trade Paperback, April 2014

Genre: Fiction verging on Chick Lit

Setting: 21st century NYC

Plot: Chick lit used to refer to a genre of fiction involving sprightly single women experiencing the travails of love and a usually not too demanding career, surrounded by friends and family (in that order).  The genre expanded (perhaps as that first group of Bridget Jones readers aged, or perhaps because the industry needed some fresh plots) to include busy working women, with bland or troubled marriages, facing some kind of challenge, sometimes with the spouse.  Points/extra credit if the book is set in a vibrant city like New York or London, though I am partial to the quaint village backdrop which is a favorite of British authors such as Katie Fforde.

The Accident (Book Review)

Title: The Accident
Author: Chris Pavone

Publication Information: Crown Publishers, Hardcover, 2014

Genre: Suspense 

Plot: When New York literary agent Isabel Reed receives the manuscript of a potentially bestselling book, it causes incredible danger for anyone who reads it because it reveals a damaging secret of a powerful media mogul.  For Isabel, in addition to fearing for her life and those she has involved, an added element is that she guesses the identity of the anonymous author. 

Buying In (Book Review)

Title: Buying In
Author: Laura Hemphill

Publication Information: Houghton Mifflin, hardcover, 2013

Genre: Fiction             Setting: NYC

Plot: Sophie Landgraf, a recent Yale grad, landed a coveted analyst position on Wall Street, but she is unprepared for the competitiveness of her (mostly male) coworkers, the long hours and ambiguity of her assignments, the unrealistic expectations and unceasing pressure, and the knowledge – shared by everyone at Sterling – that they are only one failed deal away from losing their jobs.  The people Sophie should be able to rely on, her boyfriend, Will, and her father, back in western Massachusetts, are both very critical of her job and believe she has changed since selling out to capitalism.  As her work becomes even more stressful and all-absorbing, Sophie has to figure out what is most important to her because it doesn’t appear she can Have It All.

A Book Lovers Road Trip!

Baker Books, in Southeastern Mass., is sponsoring a one day trip to NYC to spend a delicious day in Greenwich Village visiting bookstores, including the Strand. How fun!

I know New York well enough so I would rather do that trip on my own but I am convinced I am missing out on a lot of bookstores on Cape Cod, and would welcome suggestions where to go there. I did find some books in the basement of (I believe it was) the Centerville Library but haven't been to any used bookstores.

Today I took a break from work to go to a library book sale in Dedham, MA, where I found little for myself but quite a few things for my nephews, when they are a little older (it was $4/bag so there was no reason to put anything back, except a juvenile version of Gideon's Trumpet, which I couldn't imagine anyone reading although I did hesitate, having just been to hear Anthony Lewis speak). I have always dismissed Dedham because the public schools are weak, but I drove by beautiful homes, both very historic in the downtown area near the library and court house, and large, more modern ones between on High and Common Street as I headed for Route 128. Of course, one errand led to another and yet another, and I never made it to the gym...