Monday, April 8, 2024

Monday Book Love (4/8/24 edition)

 



Monday Book Love is a catch-all for all of those events where you share your latest acquisitions, events like:

Mailbox Monday

What are You Reading?

Stacking the Shelves


In the last week, I won from LibraryThing:


The Anti-Semite Next Door by Mark M. Bello

An Anti-Semite Disrupts a Boy’s Bar Mitzvah—Will Zack Blake Represent . . . the Terrorist!?Your favorite trial lawyer, Zachary Blake, is back! 

The ninth installment of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series, finds “The King of Justice” attending the bar-mitzvah of Josh Cooper, his friend Rich’s son. Josh’s special day is interrupted when a bomb explodes, and Josh disappears during the melee. Cooper’s neighbor, Chip Ellis, is also missing. Is this a hate crime? Police clear the bomb debris with no trace of Josh or Chip. Zack believes the bombing was a distraction for the terrorists’ actual goal. His theory is confirmed when Rich receives a ransom demand for the return of his son. The hostage-takers are alt-right, anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic domestic terrorists. Aside from money, they want their 15 minutes of fame to broadcast their hate-filled manifesto. Winger Wright, the mastermind of the bombing and hostage-taking, is in no hurry to negotiate a hostage release—he prefers to peddle his bigoted garbage to raise money. But he slips up, and when the FBI rescues the hostages and kills most of the terrorists, Wright cannot be found. One terrorist is captured. Offered a plea deal, he claims Josh was the only hostage. Worse, he chooses a photo of Chip Ellis out of a photo array and identifies the neighbor as the terrorist Winger Wright. But Josh claims Ellis was a fellow hostage and a source of comfort while the two were held captive. The FBI wants to arrest the neighbor but cannot connect him to the terrorists. The Cooper family is certain Ellis is innocent. He needs a lawyer and Rich recommends his friend Zack Blake who privately believes Chip is guilty. Zachary, Jennifer, Micah, FBI Agent Clare Gibson, and a fabulous supporting cast return in this taut thriller, the 9th edition of the Zachary Blake legal thriller series. Is Chip Ellis a good neighbor in the wrong place at the wrong time or is he The Anti-Semite Next Door?

From Netgalley:

Act of Defiance by Brian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson, Tom Clancy

When a Russian superweapon is let loose under the waves, it's up to President Jack Ryan to find a countermove in the latest entry in this #1 New York Times bestselling series.

US intelligence says there's something going on in Russia. While their land forces have been decimated by corruption and incompetence, the Navy seems to be pouring money into some secret project. 

Analysts are stumped, until the knot is untangled by one particularly bright young woman at the Office of Naval Intelligence--Katie Ryan, the youngest daughter of President Jack Ryan. Like her father, she sees patterns where other don't, and she's determined that the Russians are about to launch a super missile submarine, the Belgorod. 

Now the race is on to determine where the sub is and whether it poses a threat to the continental US.


The Bear by Julia Phillips

A mesmerizing novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor—a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods, by the celebrated, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth.

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and her sister, Elena, dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works long days on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can't earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.

Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it's time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the plan to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.

A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us—and within us—Bear is a propulsive, mythical, rich novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.


Forage. Gather. Feast. by Maria Finn

Celebrate the pleasure of the wilderness (or even your backyard) with this approachable forage-to-kitchen cookbook featuring 110 recipes using foragable foods—from seaweed love to mushroom lust and everything in between.

Identify foragable foods in your own backyard to create simple, rustic recipes from the bounty of the coast, forest, and urban spaces up and down the West Coast.

Featuring more than 100 recipes and chock-full of lush photography, this cookbook shows you what to do with the delicious foodstuffs you can dig, snip, or catch anywhere from Alaska to Northern California, then put it all together in homecooked meals best shared with friends and gorgeous sunset views or cooked in the wild over a campfire.


Kowbird by Matt Horn

If you are like most people, you eat a lot of chicken. But chances are you haven’t had chicken like Matt Horn’s chicken. Now you can! Learn how to make the best chicken on the planet, from a true master of the art, in this fun and inspiring book.

Celebrated chef Matt Horn spent years perfecting his chicken recipes before he opened his widely acclaimed mecca for chicken cookery, Kowbird , in Oakland, California. Even to this day, he continues to experiment with different cuts of chicken, with a host of sauces and spice mixtures that bring out the best flavors in chicken, and with all sorts of cooking techniques that make this popular food explode with flavor on the palate. In the richly photographed pages of Kowbird, he shares his hard-won wisdom and his brilliantly creative culinary wizardry, elevating the humble bird to its rightful place at the center of the plate—and as the star of the meal.

Matt gives you 65 recipes packed with flavor and creativity for everything from comforting weekday dinners to spectacular weekend feasts. It’s time to set aside the tired old chicken spaghetti, chicken parmesan, and unadorned chicken cutlets and dig
 
With recipes for grilling, smoking, sautéing, brazing, baking, broiling, pan-frying, deep-frying, and more, this is a book that takes chicken to delectable places you’ve never dreamed of before.

From Book Sirens:

Welcome to Your Body (Short Stories)

Each limb tells a story. Every organ shares a secret.

A woman saves the leg of her dead child. A man leaps from soul to soul, trying to find a pure heart. Uteri wander, skin peels back, and human bodies liquify all over this world.

Slice into the anatomy of this collection to discover all the unseen horrors the human body can deliver.

Brand new stories from Alex Wolfgang, Ai Jiang, Mary Rajotte, Julie Sevens, Christopher O'Halloran, Sasha Brown, Bridget D. Brave, Taylor Ketterer, Demi-Louise Blackburn, Lindsey Ragsdale, Emma E. Murray, Johnathon Heart, P.L. McMillan, Rachel Searcey, Bryan Young, Kai Delmas, and David Worn, with a foreword from Paula D. Ashe.

From Amazon First Reads:

The Bootlegger's Daughter by Nadine Nettmann

In Prohibition-era Los Angeles, two women on opposite sides of the law must take control of their lives, make their marks, and try to survive. Even if it means crossing the line. It’s 1927. Letty Hart’s father is long gone, but his old winery provides a meager wage and a legal livelihood for selling sacramental wine. But when that contract goes bust, Letty stumbles upon a desperate her father’s hidden cellar—and enough liquor to tempt Letty to bootleg the secret stash. In an underworld dominated by merciless men, Letty is building an empire. Officer Annabel Forman deserves to be the first female detective in the LAPD. But after two years on the force, she’s still consigned to clerical work and policing dance halls. When Annabel connects a series of unsolved murders to bootlegging, it’s a chance at a real investigation. Under the thumb of dismissive male superiors, Annabel is building her case. As their formerly uncompromised morals erode, Letty and Annabel are on a collision course—and determined to prove they’re every bit as ruthless and strong-willed as the powers that be who want to take them down.

Purchased:

The Women by Kristin Hannah

An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.


Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?


I am currently actively reading Act of Defiance and Welcome to Your Body.

What treasures has your week brought you?

3 comments:

Tammy Sparks said...

I'm really curious about Bear. I hope you love it!

Cheriee Weichel said...

It sounds like you had a fabulous reading week.
I'm intrigued by The Anti-Semite Next Door, but alas, none of my libraries have it even on order yet!

Literary Feline said...

Congratulations on your LibraryThing win. I hope you enjoy Mark M. Bello's book! I am curious about The Bootlegger's Daughter and really want to read The Women. And I've been wanting to try something by Abby Jimenez for awhile now. I hope you like all of these when you read them! Have a great week and happy reading.