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Editorial Content for Malice House

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Megan Shepherd, the author of acclaimed young adult and middle-grade novels, makes her adult debut with MALICE HOUSE, a seriously sinister mystery wrapped in a storybook turned very, very dark. Read More

Teaser

Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father’s remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven’s bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets.

Promo

Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father’s remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven’s bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets.

About the Book

From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd comes a complex tale of dark magic, family secrets and monsters that don’t stay on the page.

Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father’s remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. Clearly just dementia whispering in his ear...right?

Reeling from a failed marriage, Haven hopes an illustrated Bedtime Stories can be the lucrative posthumous father-daughter collaboration she desperately needs to jump-start her art career. However, everyone in the nearby vacation town wants a piece of the manuscript: her father’s obsessive literary salon members, the Ink Drinkers; her mysterious yet charming neighbor, who has a tendency toward three a.m. bonfires; a young barista with a literary forgery business; and of course, whoever keeps trying to break into her house. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven’s bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets --- completely rewriting everything she ever knew about herself in the process.

Audiobook available, read by Katie Schorr

Editorial Content for Miss del Río: A Novel of Dolores del Río, the First Major Latina Star in Hollywood

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

Although Hollywood tried to whitewash every woman who appeared on the silver screen, actress Dolores del Río was allowed to enchant the bosses with her Mexican beauty. She did not have to change anything about herself in order to reach the upper echelon of movie stardom before World War II. MISS DEL RÍO by Bárbara Mujica, the bestselling author of FRIDA, presents with literary flair and compassion the life of the first true Latina superstar in the United States. Read More

Teaser

1910, Mexico. As the country’s revolution spreads, Dolores, the daughter of a wealthy banker, must flee her comfortable life in Durango or risk death. Her family settles in Mexico City, where, at 16, she marries the worldly Jaime del Río. But in a twist of fate, at a party she meets an influential American director who recognizes in her a natural performer. He invites her to Hollywood, and practically overnight, the famous Miss del Río is born. In California, Dolores’ star quickly rises, and her days become a whirlwind of moviemaking and glamorous events. But as her career soars to new heights, her personal life becomes increasingly complicated, with family tragedy, painful divorce and real heartache.

Promo

1910, Mexico. As the country’s revolution spreads, Dolores, the daughter of a wealthy banker, must flee her comfortable life in Durango or risk death. Her family settles in Mexico City, where, at 16, she marries the worldly Jaime del Río. But in a twist of fate, at a party she meets an influential American director who recognizes in her a natural performer. He invites her to Hollywood, and practically overnight, the famous Miss del Río is born. In California, Dolores’ star quickly rises, and her days become a whirlwind of moviemaking and glamorous events. But as her career soars to new heights, her personal life becomes increasingly complicated, with family tragedy, painful divorce and real heartache.

About the Book

1910, Mexico. As the country’s revolution spreads, Dolores, the daughter of a wealthy banker, must flee her comfortable life in Durango or risk death. Her family settles in Mexico City, where, at 16, she marries the worldly Jaime del Río. But in a twist of fate, at a party she meets an influential American director who recognizes in her a natural performer. He invites her to Hollywood, and practically overnight, the famous Miss del Río is born.

In California, Dolores’ stardom quickly rises, and her days become a whirlwind of moviemaking and glamorous events. Swept up in Tinseltown’s glitzy inner circle, she takes her place among film royalty such as Marlene Dietrich and Orson Welles. But as her career soars to new heights, her personal life becomes increasingly complicated with family tragedy, painful divorce and real heartache. And when she’s labeled box office poison amid growing prejudice before WWII, Dolores must decide what price she’s willing to pay to achieve her dreams and if her heart and future instead lie where it all began...in Mexico.

Spanning half a century and narrated by Dolores’ fictional hairdresser and longtime friend, MISS DEL RÍO traces the life of a trailblazing woman whose legacy in Hollywood and in Mexico still shines bright today.

Audiobook available, read by Frankie Corzo

Editorial Content for Comfort Baking: Feel-Good Food to Savor and Share

Reviewer (text)

Barbara Bamberger Scott

In COMFORT BAKING, Stephanie Wise --- the creator of the long-running blog “A Girl Versus Dough” --- offers her most cherished recipes, along with sage advice on temperatures, proportions and subtleties of ingredients, arraying the finished products in delectable color. Read More

Teaser

Baking has become more than a hobby or a means to a delicious end. Now more than ever, it also has become a source of solace, relief and relaxation. COMFORT BAKING focuses on easy-to-follow recipes that make people feel good from the inside out. For anyone who is looking for a moment in the kitchen as a time to create, worship, relax or prepare a recipe for a friend in need, this is your guidebook. In addition to over 100 recipes that exude comfort from beginning to end, baker Stephanie Wise includes plenty of helpful tips along the way to make the process as simple and enjoyable as possible. Whether you're preparing a quiche or whipping up a late-night batch of cookies, the recipes in this book are guaranteed to bring you and the people you share your creations with comfort.

Promo

Baking has become more than a hobby or a means to a delicious end. Now more than ever, it also has become a source of solace, relief and relaxation. COMFORT BAKING focuses on easy-to-follow recipes that make people feel good from the inside out. For anyone who is looking for a moment in the kitchen as a time to create, worship, relax or prepare a recipe for a friend in need, this is your guidebook. In addition to over 100 recipes that exude comfort from beginning to end, baker Stephanie Wise includes plenty of helpful tips along the way to make the process as simple and enjoyable as possible. Whether you're preparing a quiche or whipping up a late-night batch of cookies, the recipes in this book are guaranteed to bring you and the people you share your creations with comfort.

About the Book

Embrace the joy of baking --- for yourself and others.

Baking has become more than a hobby or a means to a delicious end. Now more than ever, it also has become a source of solace, relief and relaxation. COMFORT BAKING focuses on easy-to-follow recipes that make people feel good from the inside out. For anyone who is looking for a moment in the kitchen as a time to create, worship, relax or prepare a recipe for a friend in need, this is your guidebook.

In addition to over 100 recipes that exude comfort from beginning to end, baker Stephanie Wise of "Girl Versus Dough" includes plenty of helpful tips along the way to make the process as simple and enjoyable as possible. Whether you're preparing a quiche or whipping up a late-night batch of cookies, the recipes in this book are guaranteed to bring you and the people you share your creations with comfort.

Baked-from-scratch recipes include:

  • Peaches & Cream Streusel Muffins
  • Lox Bagel Breakfast Casserole
  • Strawberry-Pretzel Cheesecake Bars
  • Upside-Down Apricot Cake
  • Pretzel-Crusted Chocolate-Peanut Butter Caramel Tart
  • No-Knead Tomato Focaccia
  • Biscuit-Topped Chicken Pot Pie
  • Ultimate Baked Mac & Cheese

November 11, 2022

I feel like I am living in a mystery novel. One of our silver steak knives is missing. A few weeks ago, something triggered my looking where we have the silver carefully stored, and one knife was gone. I am not sure why it took me until two weeks ago to figure this out. And I am not sure exactly when it went missing. After years of just using “the good stuff” for holidays, I decided to enjoy it on many more occasions. So just when it slipped away, I am not sure! Could it be with the Easter lamb? What did I serve for Mother’s Day? Was it the Father’s Day steak? Was it for a Saturday or Sunday dinner?

Reviewer Event 2022

January 2023 Bookaccino Live Event

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

November 2022

MAD HONEY had its origins in a very different way. In 2017, Jennifer Finney Boylan had a dream that she wrote a book with Jodi Picoult, and she tweeted about it. Jodi got wind of this and said, “Let’s do it.” Previously her only co-writer was her daughter, Samantha van Leer. What Jodi and Jennifer created together is a novel that takes on an issue as Jodi’s books are wont to do. At the same time, it blends in experiences that Jennifer knows all too well as she is transgender. 

Told in alternating narratives, we get to know these characters, yet we do not see from the start exactly how they will impact one another.

Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard

November 2022

Every time I read a book by Joyce Maynard, I find myself remembering the characters for a very long time. This is exactly what happened when I read COUNT THE WAYS. It came out in hardcover last year, and I had every intention of reading it then. But life got in the way, so I read it this fall in anticipation of interviewing Joyce. It was billed as her most ambitious novel to date, and indeed it is. The themes that I have come to love in her books are there --- family in all its messiness.

Now available in paperback, JUST THIEVES is a nail-biting, noirish exploration of the working lives of two unforgettable crooks and the hidden forces that rule and ruin their lives. Gregory Galloway has penned a twisty and twisted crime novel that evokes the worlds of George V. Higgins, Patricia Highsmith and David Mamet. In fact, these legendary writers --- along with Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy B. Hughes, Herman Melville and many others --- served as his inspiration for the book, which includes “more than 40 allusions, homages, references and direct lifts from novels, as well as a number of crime films.” In this fun and insightful piece, Galloway explains why and how he did this.  

Gregory Galloway

Gregory Galloway is the author of the novels JUST THIEVES, THE 39 DEATHS OF ADAM STRAND and the Alex Award-winning AS SIMPLE AS SNOW. His short stories have appeared in the Rush Hour and Taking Aim anthologies. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently resides in NW Connecticut.