I spy Biographies

I spy biographies…check them out if you are interested!

A candid, heartfelt love story set in contemporary California that challenges the idea of what it means to be American, liberated, and in loveWhen Huda meets Hadi, the boy she will ultimately marry, she is six years old. Both are the American-born children of Iraqi immigrants, who grew up on opposite ends of California. Hadi considers Huda his childhood sweetheart, the first and only girl he’s ever loved, but Huda needs proof that she is more than just the girl Hadi’s mother has chosen for her son. She wants what many other American girls have–the entertainment culture’s almost singular tale of chance meetings, defying the odds, and falling in love. She wants stolen kisses, romantic dates, and a surprise proposal. As long as she has a grand love story, Huda believes no one will question if her marriage has been arranged. But when Huda and Hadi’s conservative Muslim families forbid them to go out alone before their wedding, Huda must navigate her way through the despair of unmet expectations and dashed happily-ever-after ideals. Eventually she comes to understand the toll of straddling two cultures in a marriage and the importance of reconciling what you dreamed of with the life you eventually live. Tender, honest and irresistibly compelling, First Comes Marriage is the first Muslim-American memoir dedicated to the themes of love and sexuality. Huda and Hadi’s story brilliantly circles around a series of firsts, chronicling two virgins moving through their first everything: first hand holding, first kiss, and first sexual encounter. First Comes Marriage is an almost unbearably humanizing tale that tucks into our hearts and lingers in our imagination, while also challenging long-standing taboos within the Muslim community and the romantic stereotypes we unknowingly carry within us that sabotage some of our best chances for finding true love.

A brave teen recounts her debilitating struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder—and brings readers through every painful step as she finds her way to the other side—in this powerful and inspiring memoir.

Until sophomore year of high school, fifteen-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home.

But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality.

It started with avoiding sidewalk cracks and quickly grew to counting steps as loudly as possible. Over the following weeks, her brain listed more dangers and fixes. She had to avoid hair dryers, calculators, cell phones, computers, anything green, bananas, oatmeal, and most of her own clothing.

Unable to act “normal,” the once-popular Allison became an outcast. Her parents questioned her behavior, leading to explosive fights. When notebook paper, pencils, and most schoolbooks were declared dangerous to her health, her GPA imploded, along with her plans for the future.

Finally, she allowed herself to ask for help and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This brave memoir tracks Allison’s descent and ultimately hopeful climb out of the depths.

Story of Our Lives

• Helen Warner
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Graydon House
• (February 13, 2018)

What is it about:

They think nothing can tear their bond apart, until a long-buried secret threatens to destroy everything.

Every year they have met up for a vacation, but their time away is much more than just a bit of fun. Over time, it has become a lifesaver, as each of them struggles with life’s triumphs and tragedies.

Sophie, Emily, Amy and Melissa have been best friends since they were girls. They have seen each other through everything—from Sophie’s private fear that she doesn’t actually want to be a mother despite having two kids, to Amy’s perfect-on-the-outside marriage that starts to reveal troubling warning signs, to Melissa’s spiraling alcoholism, to questions that are suddenly bubbling up around the paternity of Emily’s son. But could a lie that spans just as long as their friendship be the thing that tears them apart?

Are you going to read this?  It looks like an interesting book to read!  I saw the cover and I knew I had to put it on my blog.  It is not my usual cup of tea but once in a while I will read something totally different.    Check out the author’s website when you get a chance.  Click on her name up above to learn more about her and her other books too!

 

Non Fiction and a Biography!

These two books caught my eye.  Check them out today.  Perhaps they will help you or open your eyes more to see what how the world can at times.

THE JOY PLAN
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks (July 11, 2017)

As a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman, Kaia Roman always had a plan. But when her biggest plan, the business she cofounded, collapsed, Kaia found herself crushed by depression. And what felt even worse was that, with a husband and two kids relying on her to get out of bed, she didn’t have a plan to move forward.

Determined to turn her life around and put her ingrained habits of stress and anxiety behind her, Kaia decided to put everything else on hold and dedicate thirty days to the singular pursuit of joy. The results were astonishing-and lasted much longer than the initial monthlong project.

In this uplifting and eye-opening memoir, Kaia uses her business savvy to create a concrete Joy Plan to get back on her feet fast. Using scientific research on hormones, neurotransmitters, and mindfulness, along with the daily dedication to creating a more joyful existence, Kaia teaches readers how to move past temporary happiness and succeed in creating joy that lasts.

Complete with advice, exercises, and key takeaways, The Joy Plan is Kaia’s step-by-step guide to how she, and everyone else, can ditch the negative and plan for the joy in their lives.

A Beautiful Terrible Thing
by Jen Waite
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Plume (July 11, 2017)

These are the questions facing Jen Waite when she begins to realize that her loving husband—the father of her infant daughter, her best friend, the love of her life—fits the textbook definition of psychopath. In a raw, first-person account, Waite recounts each heartbreaking discovery, every life-destroying lie, and reveals what happens once the dust finally settles on her demolished marriage.

After a disturbing email sparks Waite’s suspicion that her husband is having an affair, she tries to uncover the truth and rebuild trust in her marriage. Instead, she finds more lies, infidelity, and betrayal than she could have imagined. Waite obsessively analyzes her relationship, trying to find a single moment from the last five years that isn’t part of the long-con of lies and manipulation. With a dual-timeline narrative structure, we see Waite’s romance bud, bloom, and wither simultaneously, making the heartbreak and disbelief even more affecting.

Non Fiction books

Since I work at a library, I come across tons of nonfiction books. Some are cool and some are not and some are boring but hey they are books!   Oh I see tons of cook books too! When I see those, I tend to get hungry while I’m at work quicker.  These books caught my attention while I was at work.   Perhaps they will spark your interest as well.  I briefly glance at some of them and even got a few recipes out of the cook books!

 

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Author: Penrose Halson
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 2, 2017)

A riveting glimpse of life and love during and after World War II—a heart-warming, touching, and thoroughly absorbing true story of a world gone by.

In the spring of 1939, with the Second World War looming, two determined twenty-four-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau. They found a tiny office on London’s Bond Street and set about the delicate business of matchmaking. Drawing on the bureau’s extensive archives, Penrose Halson—who many years later found herself the proprietor of the bureau—tells their story, and those of their clients.

From shop girls to debutantes; widowers to war veterans, clients came in search of security, social acceptance, or simply love. And thanks to the meticulous organization and astute intuition of the Bureau’s matchmakers, most found what they were looking for.

Penrose Halson draws from newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, and interviews with the proprietors themselves to bring the romance and heartbreak of matchmaking during wartime to vivid, often hilarious, life in this unforgettable story of a most unusual business.

 

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Author: Edward McClelland
• Publisher: Belt Publishing (December 1, 2016)

Pittsburgh toilet, squeaky cheese, city chicken, shampoo banana, and Chevy in the Hole are all phrases that are familiar to Midwesterners but sound foreign to anyone living outside the region. This book explains not only what Midwesterners say but also how and why they say it and covers such topics as: the causes of the Northern cities vowel shift, why the accents in Fargo miss the nasality that’s a hallmark of Minnesota speech, and why Chicagoans talk more like people from Buffalo than their next-door neighbors in Wisconsin. Readers from the Midwest will have a better understanding of why they talk the way they do, and readers who are not from the Midwest will know exactly what to say the next time someone ends a sentence with “eh?”.

 

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Author:  Shonda Moralis
• Publisher: The Experiment (January 3, 2017)

Moms can feel as if they are sprinting through life, crashing onto the pillow at day’s end only to start again the next morning. In Breathe, Mama, Breathe, psychotherapist Shonda Moralis outlines the benefits of daily meditation and shows moms how to do it—in just five minutes! Plus, she shares over 60 “mindful breaks” that will help moms tune into their own well-being (along with everyone else’s):

• Eat a mindful breakfast—with no phone, TV, or newspaper!
• Cuddle your child and take three deep breaths together.
• Give yourself a mindful-mommy high five—because moms can use positive reinforcement, too.

Every mom—whether caring for a new baby, an over scheduled grade-schooler, or an angsty teen—can become a mindful mama!

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Author: Richard Blais
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (May 16, 2017)

Fans know Richard Blais best as the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars, the first competitor to be invited back as a permanent judge on Top Chef, and now as a Food Network regular as well. On television, Blais is famous for his daring cooking, making use of science (think liquid nitrogen) to dazzle and impress. But how does he cook at home when the cameras are off? That’s what this book will answer, with elevated homestyle recipes and personal stories which invite you behind the scenes and into his own kitchen for the first time. Some recipes might look familiar, like spaghetti and meatballs, but have a secret, flavor-boosting ingredient, and others feature clever but unexpected techniques, like his fried chicken which is first marinated in pickle juice. These are creative recipes that anyone can make and are sure to excite, from Seabass with Ginger Beer and Bok Choy to Jerked Spatchcock Chicken and Plantains, making this this the book Blais fans have been waiting for.

 

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Authors: Cooking Light
• Publisher: Oxmoor House (May 16, 2017)

This all-new book by the editors of Cooking Light, isn’t just for vegetarians. It’s for anyone who wants to add more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to their meals and omit meat-without sacrificing flavor-even if it’s just once or twice a week.

Beyond the health benefits, you’ll find plenty of bold flavors and rich textures in these appealing dishes that include fresh salads (Fried Egg and Crunchy Breadcrumb Breakfast Salad, Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Penne Salad with Goat Cheese), sandwiches (Avocado, Sprout, and Cashew Spread Sandwich; Portobello Sandwiches with Red Pepper Sauce), soups (Smoky Farro and Chickpea Soup), and hearty one-dish meals, risottos, and bowls (Quick White Bean, Asparagus, and Mushroom Cassoulet; Risotto Primavera; Brown Rice Bowl with Miso, Poached Egg, and Kale-Radish Slaw).

Inside the book, you’ll find:

• Over 150 flavorful recipes, including a full-color photograph of every dish
• Complete nutritional information for every recipe
  Vegan recipes are identified
• A guide to building an everyday vegetarian kitchen, including details about versatile, flavor-building ingredients that are ideal to keep on hand
• Techniques that visually explain a cooking method or procedure
• Tips that provide insight on ingredients and advice on using them
• A seasonal produce guide, metric equivalents, and much more

Find your place at the vegetarian table with this collection of crave-worthy meals and discover an immensely satisfying way to eat with Everyday Vegetarian.

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Author: Matt Frazier
• Publisher: The Experiment (May 16, 2017)

A fast-growing global movement, No Meat Athlete (NMA) earns new fans every day by showing how everyone from weekend joggers to world-class competitors can become even healthier and fitter by eating whole plant foods.

Now The No Meat Athlete Cookbook—written by NMA founder Matt Frazier and longtime health coach, yoga teacher, and food writer Stepfanie Romine—showcases 125 delicious vegan recipes, many inspired by plant-based foods from around the world. Put nourishing, whole foods on the table quickly and affordably, with:

• Morning meals to power your day (Almond Butter–Banana Pancakes, Harissa Baked Tofu)
• Homemade sports drinks to fuel your workouts (Cucumber-Lime Electrolyte Drink, Switchel: The Original Sports Drink)
• Nutrient-packed mains to aid recovery (Naked Samosa Burgers, Almost Instant Ramen)
• Sweets that work for your body (Two-Minute Turtles, Mango Sticky Rice)
• Oil-free options for every recipe; gluten-free and soy-free options throughout

 

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Author: April Peveteaux
• Publisher: Rodale Books (April 11, 2017)

Living the food allergy life and having a kid who can’t have dairy, tree nuts, peanuts, or soy is not easy. And neither is worrying about accommodating all the food requirements at a play date.

From avoiding major food allergens and respecting food preferences like vegetarian or vegan to being aware of religious practices like keeping kosher, making a simple snack resembles navigating a minefield. Thankfully, Bake Sales Are My B*tch is here to help.

April Peveteaux’s 50-plus recipes cover the eight major food allergens and everything from school lunches, kids parties, sleepover foods, after-school snacks, and, yes, bake sales. In Bake Sales Are My B*tch, she gets into the nitty-gritty of food allergies, from deadly serious reactions to how to deal with those who don’t take your kid’s allergy seriously. Whether you’re a freaked-out parent or not, Pevetaux lends some much-needed guidance―and teaches you to make party foods that’ll be a surefire hit.