Welcome to the Sunday Salon. Well, we got a couple of inches of snow that did not melt and made us feel we really are in the middle of winter. It's cold but the sun made it pleasant. As I hate grey days, I hope the sunny days last!I have a book giveaway of a memoir, An Invisible Thread, about a New York City advertising executive who stopped to talk with an 11 year old pan handler on the city streets about 30 years ago and thus changed both their lives. The contest for two copies of the book runs through March 14. Click on the book title to enter.
Not exactly chic lit, but humorous and a little more serious is Bond Girl: A Novel, about a young graduate's life as a new analyst on Wall Street.I'll post a review this week, and plan to start Walter's Muse for a book tour later this month.
I also finished reading the first Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series, Double Booked for Death by Ali Brandon, and really liked it. Hamlet the black cat lives with its bookstore owner Darla above Pettistone's Fine Books, and helps Darla solve a mystery by pulling down books from the shelves at different times. The books' titles seem to suggest clues to the death of a famous writer, who fell or was possibly pushed in front of an oncoming van just outside Darla's book store. I think Hamlet will continue doing book title tricks like this in the mysteries to come and find that the ploy is cute and original.
Also finished reading Helpless, a thriller by Daniel Palmer, about a timely topic - child pornography online. The novel is set in New Hampshire and involves former Navy Seal Tom Hawkins who returns to the town of Shilo when his ex wife Kelly is murdered. Tom moves to Shilo to take care of his daughter Jill and gets a job coaching Jill's high school soccer team. Jill is reluctant to be coached by her father but finally gets used to the idea, until he is accused of his ex-wife's murder, suggestive pictures show up on his computer, and an anonymous blog claims he is sleeping with the teens he coaches.
The story serves to bring up the problem of teens sending sexy pictures of themselves to each other, or "sexting, as it is called, and of these pictures ending up being sold and circulated on the web. As I mentioned, the book's topic is timely and revealing, though the story itself is slowed down just a bit by overly long dialogue. Overall, I recommend Helpless for those dealing with teens in schools or at home.
These two mysteries were sent to me as a complimentary review copy and an ARC.
My reviews since last Sunday:
We're With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics
Once Upon a Time, There Was You
Pineapple Grenade
No Mark Upon Her
Casey and Kyle
(Click on the titles to see the reviews.)
What have you been up to this past week?
