Food additives. Chemicals. Antibiotics. Growth Hormones. Pesticides. Artificial Colors. Artificial Flavorings. And, that’s just what many Americans eat for breakfast! With record numbers of people suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol, it’s time we change the way we eat and get back to basics. The ramifications of continuing on this perilous path are already taxing our overwhelmed health care system.

If Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma haven’t shaken you up yet,  please read Food, Inc.:how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer-and what you can do about it. This compilation of articles, edited by filmmaker  Karl Weber, is titled after his documentary film of the same name. Interviews with scientists, journalists, and accompanying surveys and statistics all bear out the bad news about the American diet.

There are so many reasons to eat healthy, organic sustainable food from small farmers rather than from large conglomerates and the evidence presented in these articles is overwhelming. Do something positive for you, your family and the earth and learn how you can change your eating habits and improve the quality of your life. Now, if I would just practice what I’m preaching…..

So, you’ve laughed your way through all of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series? You’ve read her rereleased romances and chuckled through the two Alex Barnaby books? Now what, you ask?

There are other authors like Jennifer Crusie who also write zany mysteries, but, let’s face it, there is only one Janet Evanovich, one Stephanie, one Morelli and one Ranger. So until the next book comes out are you left high and dry?

Well, not exactly. While Evanovich is busy writing  the next Plum adventure, here’s a reading suggestion to get you through the drought: Perfectly Plum:unauthorized essays on the life, loves and other disasters of Stephanie Plum, Trenton bounty hunter. This collection of essays by published authors collects their thoughts on Stephanie, Ranger, Morelli and the gang.  There’s something for everyone between the covers of this book. For those who think Morelli is the Main guy there are essays subscribing to that theory and for those of us who are Ranger devotees(a small but mighty minority!)there are also a few well thought explanations on Ranger and what he brings to Stephanie’s, um,  table. But, don’t worry that you’ll miss Lulu and Vinnie, Connie and Grandma since they are all represented in this collection.

It’s a great book to pull out in front of those who look down their noses at you when you explain how you just love the Evanovich mysteries. When they see that you are devouring ‘literary criticism’, they may drop their Shakespeare and pick up one of the Stephanie Plum books.

Below are African American books and all of them are available through the libraries of the CLEVNET Consortium — many are owned by the Cleveland Hts-University Hts. Public Library System. You can click on the title if you’d like to order the book through the CLEVNET webcatalog.

Angelou, Maya

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Baldwin, James

If Beale Street Could Talk: A Novel

Butler, Octavia

Kindred

Carter, Stephen

The Emperor of Ocean Park

Cooper, J. California

Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime

Ellison, Ralph

Invisible Man

Everett, Percival

Erasure: A Novel

Gaines, Ernest

A Lesson Before Dying

Golden, Marita

After: A Novel

Haley, Alex

Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Hurston, Zora Neale

Their Eyes were Watching God

Iweala, Uzodinma

Beasts of No Nation: A Novel

Jones, Edward P.

The Known World

Kincaid, Jamaica

Autobiography of my Mother

Morrison, Toni

Beloved: A Novel

Naylor, Gloria

The Women of Brewster Place

Packer, Z.Z.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Parks, Gordon

The Learning Tree

Prewitt, J. Everett

Snake Walkers

Southgate, Martha

The Fall of Rome: A Novel

Tademy, Lalita

Cane River

Toomer, Jean

Cane

Walker, Alice

The Color Purple

Walker, Margarte

Jubilee

Whitehead, Colson

John Henry Days: A Novel

Wideman, John Edgar

Sent for You Yesterday

Wright, Richard

Native Son

Haven’t we all picked up books recommended by friends, family members, neighbors, or book reviewers?  Often, they are wonderful reads, but occasionally they are books that we just can’t stand, can’t finish or find to be mediocre at best.

I was reminded of this recently when one of my coworkers posted a comment on the book lovers’ site www.goodreads.com.  She read the popular book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson and really did not like it. She thought the book was filled with “child abuse and sex abuse and violent behavior against women”. She even stated that the author might be a misogynist. Then, another coworker wrote a comment defending this book calling it “a well-written, fresh, dramatic and suspenseful read” and said she could not wait to read the sequel.

I bring this to your attention because I respect both of these accomplished women. They are thoughtful and intelligent and each has a deep love for the pleasure of reading. But, they obviously had totally different opinions on this particluar book.

Recently, I read Eat, Pray & Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This was a book  that had been on my ‘to read list’ for quite a while and I was excited to finally sit down and read it. So, why did I dislike it when so many reviewers, book clubs and others just loved it?

 It started out very promising and gripped my attention right from the beginning. Ms. Gilbert is a beautiful writer and there are more than a few poetic passages in her story. But, when the author began her journeys to Italy, India, and Indonesia and continued to complain about her life and her loves while experiencing such wonderful meals, breathtaking scenery and interesting people, she just lost me. I found her to be whiny and self absorbed and it irritated me that she did not appear to appreciate  how fortunate she was to get away and ‘find herself” in places that most people only get to read about from afar.

At any rate, read what you like and never, never apologize for it. Your point of view is just as valuable as the book reviewer or your next door neighbor. And remember, there  are enough good books to go around for all of us to find many to enjoy!

There are four things you need to know about Still Alice by Lisa  Genova before you read the rest of this blog:

1. You will not want to read this book.

2. You will not be able to put this book down.

3. This book will stay with you long after you read the final page.

4. You will tell all your friends, family and coworkers to read this book.

Genova, a Harvard neuroscientist and first time novelist has written an unforgettable novel. Still Alice follows the path of Alice Howland in her journey through Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Alice is an accomplished Harvard cognitive psychologist who  teaches, conducts research and lectures all around the world. Then one day she is given the dreadful news that she is suffering with Early Onset Alzheimers and her whole world goes out of kilter.

Genova does an impressive job of portaying the struggles of Alice and her family as they accept the changes that will soon occur in Alice and all of their lives. Alzheimer’s is a dreadful and ultimately fatal disease with no known cure but  the book, Still Alice, is filled with hope, empathy and compassion. Reading it is  an important learning experience.

Originally the author self published this novel, but after receiving accolades from the Alzheimer’s Association(www.alzheimers.org), this book has thankfully begun to receive a much deserved wider audience after it was published by Pocket Books. Please pick this book up and read this artfully written story about the precarious and unrelenting disease of Alzheimers as you join Alice on her journey.

The following list represents just a small number of the many talented first time novelists who had their books published in 2008. Why read a book by an unknown author, you may ask? There are so many reasons but here are a couple you may consider. You never know when you’ll find a gem that you can share with others. You may also find that you’re attracted to a style of writing that is different from what you usually read. One of these authors may hit the big time tomorrow and you can say you read him or her first! Pick one of the following and enjoy.

Adamson, Gil

Outlander

Anam, Tahmima

A Golden Age

Black, Lisa

Takeover

Bock, Charles

Beautiful Children

Buxbaum, Julie

The Opposite of Love

Cassella, Carol

Oxygen

Dunbar, Robert

The Pines

Ferraris, Zoe

Finding Nouf

Fuller, David

Sweetsmoke

Gout, Leopoldo

Ghost Radio

Groff, Lauren

The Monsters of Templeton

Harkaway, Nick

The Gone-Away World

Harris, Rosemary

Pushing Up Daisies: A Dirty Business Mystery

Izner, Claude

Murder on the Eiffel Tower

Kent, Kathleen

The Heretic’s Daughter

Klosterman. Chuck

Downtown Owl

Kogan, Deborah Copaken

Between Here and April

Lathrop, John

The Desert Contract

Leavitt, David

The Indian Clerk

Loehfelm, Bill

Fresh Kills

MacKinnon, Amy

Tethered

Manseau, Peter

Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter

McGilloway, Brian

Borderlands

Miles, Jonathan

Dear American Airlines

O’Flynn, Catherine

What Was Lost

Parkhurst, Brooke

Belle in the Big Apple

Santiago, Fabiola

Reclaiming Paris

Tinti, Hannah

The Good Thief

Toltz, Steve

A Fraction of the Whole

Viswanathan, Padma

The Toss of a Lemon

Wroblewski, David

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Quiet and unassuming Susette Kelo believed in the American dream of home ownership. When her dream was achieved and she had restored her little pink house overlooking the Long Island Sound in New London, CT., she never imagined she would become involved in a struggle to hold on to her home-a struggle that would last for almost 10 years.

The Little Pink  House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage by Jeff Benedict follows the eminent domain challenge that brought Susette into the limelight as she became the face of a legal battle against the City of New London. The city used its powers to seize  local citizens’ private properties in order to offer the land to Pfizer, Inc. which would then develop the land and significantly increase the blue collar town’s tax revenues. A group of attorneys practicing with the Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C.(www.ij.org) took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court (Kelo v. City of New London) where the city’s right to seize private property was upheld.

The outrage over this decision grew around the country until Congress held hearings and a number of states passed legislation limiting the eminent domain powers of local authorities. Kelo’s house eventually was moved off site and dedicated as a national monument to the abuses of eminent domain.

This compelling read will frighten and anger any readers who view too much government control as an intrusion into some of our most basic democratic rights.

All you Southern novelists need to move over and make room  for a bright new talent!   Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, The Help, reveals a part of the American past many would like to forget-the racially charged and segregated small town Mississippi life of the 1960s.

When Skeeter graduates from college, she returns home with hopes of beginning a career in journalism. She moves back to her family’s shabby but genteel plantation where she grew up surrounded by family, friends, and the ‘help’, the African American house workers who made life so much easier. The help cooked, cleaned and generally waited on the whitefolk.

Skeeter lands a column about housekeeping at the local newspaper. Since she has no knowledge or skills in this area, she enlists the assistance of the black domestic Aibileen who works for one of Skeeter’s friend.  With Aibileen’s expertise, Skeeter is able to crank out a popular weekly column filled with useful tips. Aibileen introduces her to another domestic, Minny, who has left a trail of  jobs because of the outspoken comments she has made to her white employers.

The more time Skeeter spends with Aibileen and Minny, she comes to the slow realization that there are many injustices the black domestics and their families suffer on a daily basis. While this understanding is not shared by her family,  friends and her politically connected fiance, Skeeter becomes determined to write a book about Aibileen and Minny’s experiences.

Skeeter persuades them to help write their story anonymously, knowing that the kinds of things they reveal may cause a rift in the fabric of their small town if the book is ever published.  Stockett’s story unfolds through the varying voices of  Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny. Skeeter offers the persepective of a good but naive young woman who is clearly a product of her upbringing, Aibileen represents the more conservative black worker who just wants to keep her family fed and safe without making waves while Minny brings the younger attitude of the domestics who are ready and willing to fight for change and justice.

Stockett’s story is hard to put down as she brings a sad but hopeful plot alive with realistic characters and glimpses of life in the 1960s South. This engaging original book from a talented new voice should be popular with readers who enjoys books set in the South. Book clubs looking for a good read with various points to discuss should also pick it up. Enjoy!

Most people love to eat and have cherished memories of meals they’ve shared over the years with friends and family. If you’ve ever read Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes or Carol Drinkwater, you know exactly what I mean. Their memoirs, while not technically in the culinary genre, all describe the planning and execution of those meals in a very personal way.

The following list includes other authors who write memoirs, essays, and books about wine, bread, olive oil, Tabasco sauce and other random foodstuffs as well as the restaurant world. Enjoy reading them and look for a book list of fiction titles set in the culinary world coming soon.

Almond, Steve

Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America

Blanchard, Melinda

A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean

Boorstin, Sharon

Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship

Bourdain, Anthony

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Buford, Bill

Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta Maker and Apprentice to a Dante Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

Clark, Gillian

Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef’s Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood and the Family Meal

De Guise, Lucien

Spice Journeys

Deutchmann, Alan

A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma

Drinkwater, Carol

The Olive Farm: A Memoir Of Life, Love and Olive Oil in the South of France

Ecott, Tom

Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid

Febbroriello, Courtney

Wife of a Chef

Flinn, Kathleen

The Sharper the Knife the Less You Cry: Love Laughter and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School

Ginsberg, Debra

Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress

Greene, Gael

Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess

Grossman, Jo

A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers

Jurgensen, Dalia

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire

Kamp, David

The United States of Arugula; How We Became a Gourmet Nation

Kaplan, Linda

My First Crush: Misadventures in Wine Country

Loomis, Susan Herrmann

On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town

Lust, Teresa

Pass the Polenta: And Other Writings from the Kitchen

McInerney, Jay

A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine

McNamee, Thomas

Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution

Mayle, Peter

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew

Off, Carol

Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Treat

Powell, Julie

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living

Ramsay, Gordon

Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F-Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection

Reichl, Ruth

Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table

Reichl, Ruth

Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table

Reichl, Ruth

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

Reichl, Ruth

Endless Feasts: 60 Years of Writing from Gourmet

Rothfeder, Jeffery

McIlhenny’s Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire

Ruhlman, Michael

The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

Salter, James

Life is Meals: A Booklover’s Book of Days

Sanderson, Catherine

Petite Anglaise: A True Story

Seligson, Susan

Going with the Grain: A Wandering Bread Lover Takes a Bite out of Life

Tucker, Michael

Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir Of Food, Wine and Love in Italy

Wallace, Benjamin

The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

Walsh, Rob

Are you Really Going to Eat That?: Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker

West, Michael Lee

Consuming Passions: A Food Obsessed Life

Wizenberg,Molly

Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

Wolf, Bonnie

Talking with My Mouth Full: Crab Cakes, Bundt Cakes and Other Kitchen Stories

Richard Montanari, the talented American thriller writer, is even more popular in England and other European countries than he is in the United States. He’s often found on the Top Ten Best Selling Fiction lists in Great Britain and France. Here are some of the countries he’s been published in:

United Kingdom
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Greece
Brazil
India
Pakistan
Indonesia
China
Bulgaria
Poland
Czech
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
Holland
South Africa

 It’s about time that American readers follow in these foreign readers’ footsteps and really start reading Montanari. You will not be disappointed if you enjoy the type of thriller that grabs you by the throat, keeps you interested and never fails to deliver engaging characters and chilling situations.

Start with his first published novel, Deviant Way.  Set in Cleveland, Ohio, Montanari delivers an evocative portrayal of the gritty city and leaves the reader wanting more. Before I read this book, my coworker told me the ending would  surprise me. That was all the incentive I needed to try to figure it out on my own.  To Montanari’s credit as a skillful writer, he had me fooled all the way to the end. I bet he’ll have you fooled, too.  Just give him a chance and enjoy this hard to put down read!

For a list of all the books that Montanari has written, check out the Cleveland series booklist and the Philadelphia series booklist.