It’s been a long time since I took a picture of my night stand. I decided to take the picture before I went back to my last blog entry to see how much it had changed.

So here we go…from the bottom up…
IN THE WAKE OF THE PLAGUE, The Black Death & The World It Made, by Norman F. Cantor
Every since I watched the movie, “Dangerous Beauty” I’ve been interested in learning more about the Plague. So I bought the book a couple of months ago, I just haven’t been in the mood to read it yet. That’s why it has ended up on the bottom.
SALT, A World History, by Mark Kurlansky
I read Salt when it first came out in 2002, so when our Foodies book group was looking for something more about the history of food to discuss, I thought “What can be more basic to food history than salt?” (Plus, I didn’t have to work very hard to re-read it.)
BASILICA, The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter’s by R. A. Scotti
Like all booksellers, I’ve succumbed to the syrene’s call to try my hand at writing the next great novel. This book is research.
Philosophy Made Simple by the author of Sixteen Pleasures, which I liked. But I haven’t gotten around to this one yet.
So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger
This was a promotional copy sent to me by the publisher. Once in a while they send me hardcover books that don’t have the advance reading copy caution plastered all over them. So if those look interesting I bring them home, even if I don’t have to read them because the author is coming to my store.
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. (Advance reader copy)
This is the follow-up to her NYT bestselling debut, Garden Spells. I loved Garden Spells and am hoping Sugar Queen will be sprinkled with the light touch of everyday magic that made Garden Spells such a hit.
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Advance reader copy)
This is by the author of the Shadow Children series. I’m so enamored with the Fablehaven series, it is really hard for me to get interested in any of the other “next great kid’s fantasy” offerings. Haddix is a good solid young reader author. So I’m hoping that this will be the first of another hit series for her. We shall see.
The Groom To Have Been by Saher Alam (Advance reader copy)
Saher is having her release signing in my store in late July. She is an amazing writer and I’m really honored to host her debut. The Groom to Have Been is about a young Indian Muslim man who is facing the choice of a traditional arranged marriage or a love match. with the backdrop of NYC shortly after 9/11. This is a love story inspired by Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence”
God’s Middle Finger by Richard Grant
My Armchair Travellers book group is reading this for our May selection. It is quite a page turner memoir written by a British journalist who decides to travel the entire 900 mile length of lawless Serra Madre mountains in northern Mexico. The book begins with the account of the end of his trip, with him being chased for sport by a couple of killers who are gorked out on cocaine. Then it goes back and tells the tale of how he got himself into that situation.
The Recipe Writer’s Handbook by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann
Someone told me about this book because the author was the food editor for the St. Louis Post Dispatch and lives in the St. Louis area. This is actually a style reference book and is a valuable tool used by many famous cookbook authors. Who knew?!?
I have no intention of becoming a professional recipe writer — the field is way too crowded already. But, this is a great reference book for recipe READER’s too.