Staff Choices

Every winter I engross myself in the joys of the Hallmark channel Christmas movie lineup.  Reading Karen Schaler's Finding Christmas was a little like falling into a Hallmark movie. It follows the adventures of Emmie, as she attempts to bring some festive cheer to her overworked boyfriend’s life and show him how wonderful the season really is — however, things don’t go according to plan. Her holiday-themed scavenger hunt accidentally ends up in the hands of Sam, an author struggling to write his next book after the death of his sister, and that is where the fun begins.

Like every Hallmark Christmas movie, you can count on a lasting feeling of hope and happiness at the end of the story.  If you are looking to get into the holiday mood and want a quick, feel good read, this is the book for you. Finding Christmas is a perfect holiday read -- just settle in with a cup of cocoa and prepare to for some yuletide merriment! 

In the latest thriller from Chris Pavone, all hell breaks loose in Paris, but as Kate Moore is about to find out, not everything is as it seems.

Mahmoud Khalid is standing in front of the Louvre with a suicide vest strapped to him ready to die, but why, he has waited and made no demands. Kate a deep cover CIA op is working in Paris, when she gets word that similar bomb threats have broken out in other cities.

Kate and her enigmatic husband Dexter, who doesn't know Kate's real profession is up to some shady business deal along with wealthy businessman Hunter Forsyth, Kate finds a possible link to their activities. The two may signal something bigger is about to happen.

This book is well written and Pavone brings Paris to life, with great characters and a plot that will keep you guessing until the end. This is the third thriller by Pavone and you might want to read the Expats first to learn the couples back story, but still good as a stand alone.

After 13 years of marriage, Toby Fleishman, a newly divorced 41 year old upper East Side hepatologist, finds himself being pursued by fascinating, attractive and amorous women. This exciting new life hits a snag when his successful talent agent ex-wife disappears, leaving him to juggle full-time parenting of their 2 children.

 His feelings go from anger to concern when she uncharacteristically loses all contact with him and the kids. With the help of old friends, Toby finds himself contemplating his failed marriage as well as his current life. The plot, told in the third person by an outside narrator, is as much about marriage as it is about mid-life.

In Fleishman Is In Trouble,Taffy Brodesser-Akner delivers a humorous, smart, thought provoking, debut novel. I really enjoyed the characters as well as the story, one of my favorites this year.

Illustrator/author Charlie Mackesy has been a social media darling for the last year. His unexpected international online fans urged him to put this collection of his art into one place, a book, for us to enjoy. Kindness, love, acceptance and friendship are the themes shared within the pages. Each image has a message, sometimes conveyed without words.

For me, the illustrations and the messages create a calmness and quiet reflection, some with such simplicity they are inexplicably beautiful. Although classified as a graphic novel, I view the book more as a series of vignettes not defined for a certain age group. This is a book for everyone.

Sit down with a copy of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse if you find yourself caught up in the harried bustle of busy days.

Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada

Park Avenue Summer by Renée Rosen is a highly entertaining, enlightening, and fascinating historical fiction novel that immediately captured my attention and held my interest right to the very end.

The story follows a young, single woman named Alice Weiss as she relocates to New York City in 1965, to experience the life her late mother always encouraged her to live. With the assistance of her mother’s best friend Elaine Sloan, Alice is hired as the personal secretary to Cosmopolitan’s new editor-in-chief, Helen Gurley Brown, who along with Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem changed the world. As Helen fights to keep Cosmo afloat, Alice juggles the never-ending office gossip, lies, betrayal and manipulation, and her own heart breaking relationships.

Helen Gurley Brown was a visionary who fought to eliminate barriers in a male dominated workforce. Throughout the story, it gives us a glimpse of a generation of women taking New York City by storm and inspiring those who came after them. Grab a copy of this book, a martini and settle in for an amazing read!

The story of two broken souls trying to become whole is at the core of Linda Holmes' novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over.

Evvie is reeling from the sudden death of her husband and grappling with what it means to be a young widow. On the day he died, she had packed her car and planned to leave her husband. As she has not shared this secret with anyone close to her, Evvie struggles with guilt and lack of closure.

Dean Tenney is a former Major League pitcher who has troubles of his own. He suffers from the “yips” and just wants a quiet place to move on from his unplanned ending to his career.  He rents the apartment at the back of Evvie’s house. These two lost characters form an unexpected friendship that slowly turns into something more.

Evvie Drake Starts Over is a heartwarming story that is relatable and uplifting. If you are someone who enjoys baseball and a light romantic story in a small town setting, this one is for you. Holmes is also a correspondent for NPR and host of the "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcast.

Gravity is the Thing is a self-help book, sort of, in fiction. Abi Sorensen is the owner of the Happiness Café and mother of four-year-old Oscar. She and several others have been invited to an all-expenses paid retreat to learn the truth about The Guidebook, something that all the participants have all been receiving in mysterious, out-of-sequence and puzzling chapters since they were teenagers. Abi has always associated this book with a tragic event from her youth and hungers for answers.

At first, the story may seem illogical or absurd but I found it to be a uniquely told novel about hope, trust, coping with grief and with motherhood. It is optimistic, sad, self-deceiving, bittersweet and romantic. Abi is taken on a long journey of introspection about past decisions and her belief that she was solely responsible for the emotional health in many of her relationships.

Author Jaclyn Moriarty has written several novels for young adults and children. This is her first novel for adults.

In Alex Michaelides debut novel, The Silent Patient, Alicia Berenson appears to have it all. She is a well-known painter and her husband is a famous fashion photographer. What would motive this seemingly content woman to shoot her husband five times in the face and then never speak again? Psychotherapist, Theo Faber, is desperate to work with Alicia to see if he can breakthrough her silence and finally get to the truth.

As it turns out, Alicia feels a draw to Theo as well. At a slow, but not tedious and incredibly suspenseful pace, Alicia begins to open up and little pieces of her story are shared for the reader and Theo to put together. What follows is a suspenseful, thrilling and surprising story that fans of B. A. Paris and Clare Macintosh will thoroughly enjoy.

An adaption of this twisty best-selling novel is in development and will soon come to the big screen.

Actress Alba August is luminous portraying beloved children’s author Astrid Lindgren of the Pippi Longstocking series in this Swedish language film, Becoming Astrid. Her performance from gawky teenager to a young woman is convincing, tender and compassionate.

Bored and restless, Astrid lived with her large family in rural Sweden. At age 16, she began a job at the local newspaper, first writing up ads and obituary notices, then gained new responsibilities of writing articles. An attraction developed between her married editor and herself and Astrid is soon pregnant. This is really where the story begins. She is forced to move away from her family because of the social mores of the time, around 1926. When her child is born, she must leave him with a foster mother in Denmark. When Astrid finds out that the foster mother can no longer care for young Lasse, she must step up and bring him home. To comfort her son who she barely knows, we see the beginnings of her story-telling talent as she weaves tales to ease his anxiety of being separated from the only person he knew as his mother.

Though her burdens are great, there is a brightness and humanity in how all the actors depict these real-life individuals. It was especially heartwarming to see a reconciliation with her estranged mother. I highly recommend this movie; watch with a box of tissues close at hand.

Erin Lee Carr is the daughter of New York Times journalist and author David Carr. In this case, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Erin is drawn to journalism and documentary filmmaking, her father is her guiding light. Preserved in emails and texts his advice to her is tender, loving, incredibly supportive, eloquent, direct, gruff, blunt, hard-hitting, spot-on and delivered with just the right touch whenever Erin reaches out to him.

Journalism is a competitive, work hard, play hard environment, constantly changing with breaking news and evolving with the rise of social media. Life is not easy. Both Erin and her father got caught in the trap of losing themselves to addictions and addictive behavior. How do you break free? Erin attributes her hard-won success to her father, leading her forward.  He opened some doors for her professionally but she had to do the work. She has spoken for a TEDx talk about her work and has directed two documentaries for HBO. After his sudden death when Erin is 26 years old, she is stopped short, forced to look at her life and actions closely without filters.

All That You Leave Behind is a candid, moving memoir to celebrate fathers, families and I think this is a good read for high school and college graduates.

In the author’s acknowledgements, she includes a thank you and directive to her readers: “YOU (for reading this; now go write someone you love an email).”