Frommer's Portable New York City 2008 by Brian Silverman

Autumn is a wonderful time of year to explore New York City. Frommer's Portable is an easy to use pocket sized guide book. The book begins with a calendar of events, how to get there and getting to know the New York City neighborhoods. The maps included in this guide are excellent. Restaurants and hotels are listed from inexpensive to very expensive. They include excellent descriptions of specialty dishes and listings for the best pizza and bagels in the city.

Exploring New York City is a chapter about the top attractions in New York City, their histories, hours and fees. I especially enjoyed reading about the museums and Central Park and other places to play. For shoppers, there are hints on where to go and what to buy. The last chapter is about New York City after dark and has numerous suggestions for attending the theatre and musical events. I spent a week in New York City this past summer and wish that I had taken this pocket guide with me! - Reviewed by Deb

Whisky by Juan Pablo Rebella

There is so much going on in this film and a lot of it lies beneath the surface. Jacobo, a sock factory owner in Uruguay finds himself having to get ready for a visit from his younger, more vivacious and quite prosperous brother Herman. Herman has run a very successful sock factory in Brazil for the past twenty years. Family ties have been lost but Herman does manage to come to visit for the ritual of placing a memorial stone for their mother’s grave. Jacobo has taken care of their mother during her final years. He doesn't want his brother to think he is alone now, so he enlists Marta a longtime employee to masquerade as his wife. I was taken with how well the film moved cinematically and with its subtleties. I won’t tell you why the title is Whisky - you’ll have to see it to find out. - Reviewed by Patricia

51 Birch Street by Doug Block

This documentary tries to answer one of the most basic questions children often have about their parents – are they really happy together? Documentary filmmaker Doug Block believed that his parents, Mike and Mina Block, had a strong, but maybe not entirely loving, marriage that lasted for 54 years. When Mina died suddenly of pneumonia, Mike shocked the family by taking a trip to Florida and reconnecting with his old secretary from work, Kitty, three months after Mina’s death. Did this mean Mike had been cheating on his wife for over 30 years?

Struggling with the news that his father has married his secretary, and that he will be moving to Florida and selling the Long Island family house, Doug Block tries to learn more about his parents and what went wrong. This process is helped greatly by old photographs, interviews with family and friends, and a surprise treasure trove of daily diary entries from Mina herself. When Doug finally agrees to read his mother’s diaries, he is in for a shock about her marriage over the years. A surprise conversation with his father towards the end of the documentary explains his father’s side of a difficult marriage and a renewed sense of love at the age of 83. Highly recommended for documentary lovers and those interested in family histories. – Reviewed by Sarah

The Manning Sisters by Debbie Macomber

This romance by Macomber features the story of two sisters living in different states. When Christy visits her sister Taylor in Montana, she ends up unexpectantly falling in love with the local Sheriff. The only problem is that she is engaged to another guy – in Seattle. Should she stay with the man she is involved with, or follow her heart? This book is very suspenseful and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good romance to read. The Manning Sisters is made up of two books that Macomber wrote in the early 90’s – The Cowboy’s Lady and The Sheriff Takes a Wife. –Reviewed by Jackie

Rat Salad: Black Sabbath, the Classic Years, 1969-1975 by Paul Wilkinson

First of all, don't let the title Rat Salad (which is also the title of an instrumental from the album Paranoid) scare you off, for if you do, you will be missing a great book. There have been many books written about Black Sabbath, but none of them go into such detail about the songs (from their debut album to Sabotage) as this book does. The author gives a background on Black Sabbath and throws in many other personal details about the band. He also lets us know what else was going on in the world at the time that these albums were released (both politically and musically), as well as talking about himself (though I'm not sure if the tidbit about his baby sitter was necessary!). But...the main focus here is on the songs themselves. I like that he states very clearly in the beginning of the book why he only goes up to the album Sabotage and why he didn't interview any of the Black Sabbath members for the book.

I sing and play guitar and percussion, but am hesitant to call myself a musician and I feel that I learned quite a bit from this book. After reading it (or even WHILE reading it), I found myself going back and listening to the first six Black Sabbath albums again and trying to listen more carefully. I'm not put off that the author uses big musical terms that I have never heard of (but should have), like 'subtonic' and 'submediant', but at no point in the book does it ever feel like he is talking down to the reader. Wilkinson uses a very smooth and flowing conversational tone, which makes the book both informative and entertaining to read. Besides, if one does feel a little overwhelmed by some of the big musical terms,he does explain all of these in a glossary in the back of the book. Also, by using all these big musical terms, he shows exactly WHY Iommi's guitar riffs were so unique and so special.

If you love the music of Black Sabbath as much as Paul Wilkinson and I do, then you will love this book. - Reviewed by Rich

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

The haunting relationship between Portland, Oregon cop Archie Sheridan and the most famous female serial killer, Gretchen Lowell, continues in the newest thriller by Chelsea Cain. Set just weeks after the end of her first book, Heartsick, Archie has stopped his weekly visits to Gretchen and is trying to kick his addiction to painkillers. When bodies are found in a Portland park, Archie is reminded of Gretchen constantly because that is where her first victim was found murdered. A sudden phone call from the prison explaining that Gretchen has been beaten and raped by a prison guard brings Archie back into Gretchen’s life. Little does anyone know that Gretchen is planning her escape from prison and is soon on the run – right into capturing Archie all over again.

Full of psychological intrigue, a fascinating and unhealthy sexual relationship between the hunted and the hunter, and page-turning suspense and build ups, Cain has written another superb thriller. A subplot featuring reporter Susan Ward and her investigation into a fallen Senator who ends up dead adds to the intrigue of the book and develops Susan more in this novel. For a review of Heartsick, please view http://www.tcpl.org/sarah/2007/10/55-heartsick-by-chelsea-cain.html - Reviewed by Sarah

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Told through a series of letters between writer Juliet Ashton and those who lived through the WWII German occupation of Guernsey, this historical fiction was engaging and imaginative. I learned a lot about what life must have been like during the five years that the English lived under German rule, but I was also taken with the lively and witty writing of the authors. It was a great summer read, one of those books that you can’t put down and when you finish, you wish for more. - Reviewed by Janet

Ready When You Are by Martha Rose Shulman

Summer is coming to a close, the kids are headed back to school and now we are again faced with the age old question, “What’s for supper?” Ms. Shulman shares more than 200 favorite “new comfort food” recipes in her book. In the introduction, she tells the reader, “These recipes are meant to be liberating.” She takes traditional recipes and lightens up the ingredients and gives us suggestions for how to prepare dishes in advance and what to do with the leftovers. She also advocates cooking many ingredients on the weekend and then using them throughout the busy work week.

Soups and stews such as minestrone, seafood gumbo, pasta e fagioli and Peruvian seafood chowder would be a hearty and filling meal as the nights become cooler. A recipe for the “Last of Summer vegetable stew” makes the most of what is left in our gardens. Roast lemon chicken with honey and Greek cheese and squash pie are easy to make and a welcome change to the weekly menu. Her dessert recipes are simple to assemble and a great ending to any meal. Some of her favorites are Bill’s Trifle, honey baked apples and homemade chocolate pudding. Delicious! - Reviewed by Deb