Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler is a stunning new coming-of-age novel about a young woman who leaves her small hometown for NYC where she lands employment at one of the poshest restaurants in town. The author poetically describes food as an accompaniment to and metaphor for the story. The book begins:

“You will develop a palate. A palate is a spot on your tongue wher you remember. Where you assign words to the textures of taste. Eating becomes a discipline, language-obsesses. You will never … [Read more...] about Sweetbitter

“What have I done with my life?” "What do I have time left to do?" "What am I still capable of?"  Perhaps these stirrings and unmet longings live within all of us as we approach new stages of our lives.

Gerald Marzorati explores this idea in his wonderful new memoir, Late to the Ball. After a gratifying career successfully editing the New York Times Magazine, Marzorati sets out in his late 50’s to learn the game of tennis. He begins to train seriously with a coach. The book is not only about … [Read more...] about Late to the Ball

My daughter, the psychology major and recent college graduate, was fascinated when she first read Helter Skelter a few years ago. Despite the harsh reality of the subject matter, the murders committed by Charles Manson and his followers, there is something darkly intriguing about his cult and the devotion and obedience he engendered in his minions, most of them young, vulnerable girls.

I was equally intrigued by Emma Cline’s fascinating and extremely well-told new novel, The Girls, in which … [Read more...] about The Girls

Hope Jahren is a brilliant storyteller. She’ also a scientist who grew up in her father’s laboratory. In essence, her father taught her 42 consecutive years worth of introductory physics and earth science in that lab, nestled within a community college deep in rural Minnesota. Her father loved that lab, and so did she. While her childhood is captured in astonishing, vivid detail--one of the best writers I’ve encountered in a long time--it is her journey to become a female scientist, her love for … [Read more...] about Lab Girl

Wonderful historical fiction set in 18th C. NY thirty years before the Revolution. Francis Spufford is a fantastic storyteller—his characters and plot are entertaining and compelling to the extent that I couldn’t put the book down. Spufford’s writing is smart, well-crafted, and unique. It was such a pleasure to read his prose—absolutely loved it. I was completely engrossed by the story and the main character’s adventures with all kinds of surprising plot developments, wonderful characters, and a … [Read more...] about Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York

Thirty-eight-year-old Anna Fox lives alone in an upscale Manhattan home in New York. She spends her days and nights spying on her neighbors, while imbibing a lot of Merlot.  We soon learn why. She’s agoraphobic and has not left her house in almost a year. When not peering out her window, she’s watching black and white movies of the Hitchcock sort. There’s certainly a nod to Hithcock’s Rear Window in the setting and plot of the novel. But to the reader’s delight, the author cleverly creates a … [Read more...] about The Woman in the Window

I simply had to read Hillary Clinton’s new book, What Happened. Here’s 6 reasons I really liked it (by the way, I might have called the book, KEEP GOING!):
1) She’s not running for office anymore, so I felt she was more relatable and authentic.
2) I loved the chapter where she simply gives us all the the details of what a typical day for her is like, including what she reads, eats, drinks, meditates on, breathing exercises, kisses for Bill, and beauty regimen.
3) She’s super well read, and I … [Read more...] about What Happened

Manhattan Beach, written by Jennifer Egan, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” is loosely based on the life of one the first female divers for the naval yards in New York City during WWII. It’s a captivating tale and one that highlights how truly hard it was for women to be allowed to do jobs outside “female cultural norms” at that time. Imagine donning a “diving suit” weighing 200 pounds. It was a dangerous and difficult feat, to say the least, but vital to the … [Read more...] about Manhattan Beach