What’s on my iPod: “I Was Wrong” by Sleeperstar
What I’m reading: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The last person I followed on Twitter: @KimKardashian
1. J’ADORE NEW YORK on Bookfan Mary
Isabelle LaFleche’s fashion-fused novel J’ADORE NEW YORK continues to gain attention and received a great review on Bookfan Mary! Here is a highlight of the review:
Isabelle Laflèche’s fast-paced novel is filled with entertaining characters. Some are larger than life, some are stereotypes, and a few are understated and relatable. The attorneys are type A, power hungry, ‘get out of my way’ people who pretty much make Catherine’s life a living hell. Her flamboyant assistant Rikash provides the comic relief and always has her back.
J’adore New York made me a bit anxious while reading about Catherine’s work pressures but, in the end, I enjoyed it. Most of all, I liked Catherine. She’s on a roller coaster ride to finding a fulfilling life and it was fun to be along for the ride. I look forward to more from Isabelle Laflèche.
More about J’ADORE NEW YORK
When Catherine Lambert, an effortlessly chic Parisian lawyer, receives an offer to transfer to the New York office of her prestigious firm, she unhesitatingly accepts. A dedicated follower of fashion and everything stylish, she is determined to conquer the high-flying world of Manhattan law-and love. Catherine’s daydreams of glamour quickly fizzle, however, when she is faced with her new job’s hard realities. Between the pressure of billable hours, the demands of Catherine’s impossible bosses, the conspiracies of two malicious secretaries and the advances of a lecherous client, New York is more of a nightmare than a dream. Then she meets Jeffrey Richardson, a powerful and handsome client, and her life takes on the romance she’d hoped it would. Candlelit dinners and trips to the Hamptons make even the most outrageous assignments bearable-until an unexpected request brings her new world crashing down around her.
With its insider’s perspective on the dirty deals and intrigue that have darkened Wall Street’s reputation, J’adore New York is a bright and funny take on the lives and laws of Manhattan’s most powerful players.
2. THE MAN WHO COULDN’T EAT on The Daily Beast
Jon Reiner‘s widely acclaimed memoir made it on The Daily Beast a one of this week’s hot reads! Here is how The Daily Beast summarized this tasteful read:
Jon Reiner couldn’t fathom a life without food, until one measly dried apricot caused him to collapse on his kitchen floor, buckled over in pain from a ruptured intestine. Despite a history of Crohn’s disease, Reiner—a self-described “glutton in a greyhound’s body”—didn’t deprive himself until, at 46, he was hooked up to an intravenous drip with an infected abdomen and no choice but to follow his doctor’s orders: don’t eat. Most of what follows chronicles Reiner’s graphic physical suffering and the toll it took on his wife and kids. “At mealtime, for instance, I unpack bladders of laboratory-made nutrients that substitute for food and fill syringes,” he writes, while his wife cooks hamburgers and fries and his son asks anxiously, “When will you eat?” Months pass; Reiner loses his taste buds; the hunger lingers, inspiring an adroitly rendered meditation on desire (“I crave food more than sex,” “I must lick this french fry”), deprivation, and our complicated relationship with food. Driven by the will to survive and support from his family, Reiner emerges from his life-and-death crisis with a new outlook on food and renewed appreciation for things that matter most.
More about THE MAN WHO COULDN’T EAT
Imagine not being able to eat or drink a single thing. No lobster roll on the beach in Maine; no hot dog at the ballpark; no cool drink on a hot summer day; no birthday cake; nothing. In The Man Who Couldn’t Eat (S&S/Gallery Books: September 6, 2011), Jon Reiner – a James Beard Foundation Award-winning writer –chronicles his three-month struggle to live without food. Based on Reiner’s acclaimed 2009 Esquire magazine article by the same name, the book reinvents the foodoir, telling what happens when a man obsessed with food is denied the taste of it. A beautifully written chronicle of one man’s journey from plenty to deprivation and back again,The Man Who Couldn’t Eat will change the way you think about more than just your next meal.
3. Isabelle LaFleche on Barnes & Noble
Isabelle LaFleche stopped by Barne’s and Noble to discuss her new novel J’ADORE NEW YORK with Lisa Steinke in a short Q&A! Here is a highlight of the interview:
LS: What was your highest point while writing your book? Your lowest?
IL: The highest point: writing the dialogues; I really had a blast doing so and found myself laughing out loud several times! The lowest: the rewrites and edits were very intense but worthwhile in the end.
LS: How did you come up with the title of your book?
IL: It was inspired in part by the main character’s French background as well as the J’Adore perfume by Christian Dior.
LS: If you could see one famous person (living or dead) reading your book, who would it be?
IL: Coco Chanel. She was an inspiring female figure who followed her own rules and was extremely passionate about her work: she was still working when she died in 1971.
More about J’ADORE NEW YORK
When Catherine Lambert, an effortlessly chic Parisian lawyer, receives an offer to transfer to the New York office of her prestigious firm, she unhesitatingly accepts. A dedicated follower of fashion and everything stylish, she is determined to conquer the high-flying world of Manhattan law-and love. Catherine’s daydreams of glamour quickly fizzle, however, when she is faced with her new job’s hard realities. Between the pressure of billable hours, the demands of Catherine’s impossible bosses, the conspiracies of two malicious secretaries and the advances of a lecherous client, New York is more of a nightmare than a dream. Then she meets Jeffrey Richardson, a powerful and handsome client, and her life takes on the romance she’d hoped it would. Candlelit dinners and trips to the Hamptons make even the most outrageous assignments bearable-until an unexpected request brings her new world crashing down around her.
With its insider’s perspective on the dirty deals and intrigue that have darkened Wall Street’s reputation, J’adore New York is a bright and funny take on the lives and laws of Manhattan’s most powerful players.
4. Happy birthday to Leon H. Gildin and congratulations on the release of THE FAMILY AFFAIR
We at BookSparksPR would love to wish a happy birthday to Leon H. Gildin, award-winning author of historical fiction novel THE POLSKI AFFAIR and the newly released sequel THE FAMILY AFFAIR! An e-book version of his latest is now available on Amazon and Smashwords and more formats and print coming soon. It’s a family drama you won’t want to miss! www.leongildin.com
More on THE FAMILY AFFAIR
How can a woman’s struggle to reconcile her guilt of survival both unite and divide her family for years to come? It is some two years since Anna Adler returned from a reunion of the survivors who were “guests” of the Hotel Polski after the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto. At the reunion, she was applauded for her courage in testifying against the Commandant of the Polski at his War Crimes Trial. Despite the accolades, Anna’s obsession with what took place at the hotel during her period of imprisonment continues to haunt her.
The Family Affair, a sequel to The Polski Affair, tells of the fortuitous discovery of new members of Anna’s family, bringing her both joy and torment. For Anna, the ties that bind run deeper than she cares to remember … or admit. This results in explosive revelations and a family forever changed, proving that some things are better left unsaid.
5. Karen A. Chase as a guest speaker at Richmond Public LibraryWith a fabulous crowd, all of whom were very much in love with Paris, I presented photographs from my Bonjour 40 trip, read excerpts from my book, and showcased my top forty things to see and do in Paris. I did have one problem in putting it together.
As I was combing through photos, I began to have this funny feeling. Kind of queasy. Kind of sad. Filled with longing. I was worried it was stage fright, but that wasn’t it. I was homesick. I lived in Paris for only a month, and yet looking at those photos made me really miss the city, my friends and how I felt there. I felt so at home in Paris, that I’m nostalgically homesick for it. Isn’t that strange? Isn’t that wonderful?
I thank the library for allowing me to relive my dream trip, and to experience that feeling. Even more, I’m grateful to say that mylocal library has accepted my e-book Bonjour 40, and they are in the process of adding it to their catalog. I’ve grown up in the shelves of libraries, it’s so nice to be a part of their continuing programs and collections.
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