"But I don't read fiction!"

Everybody has that friend. You know, the one who says they only read biographies, or books about current affairs or sports or - well, you get the drift.  If you're stuck (and, by now, running out of time!) here are some ideas.


For the sports fan:

The Best American Sports Writing 2014 by Christopher McDougall and Glenn Stout (Mariner Books trade paperback, 7 October 2014).

From more than 350 national, regional, and specialty publications and, increasingly, the top sports blogs, Christopher McDougall, best-selling author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, hand-selected the very best sports journalism of the past year.  


For the music lover:

Live at the Fillmore East and West by John Glatt (

In 1968, rock promoter Bill Graham launched the Fillmore East in New York City and the Fillmore West in San Francisco, changing music forever. For three years, every major rock band played the Fillmores, performing legendary shows: Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Allman Brothers, and many more.
Chronicling the East and West Coast cultures of the late ’60s and early '70s—New York City with its speed, heroin, and the Velvet Underground versus San Francisco with the LSD-drenched Summer of Love—Glatt reveals how Graham the made it all possible . 

For the foodie:

A Kitchen in France:  A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse by Mimi Thorisson (Clarkson Potter hardcover, 28 October 2014).

When Mimi Thorisson and her family moved from Paris to a small town in out-of-the-way Médoc, she did not quite know what was in store for them. She found wonderful ingredients—from local farmers and the neighboring woods—and, most important, time to cook. Her cookbook chronicles the family’s seasonal meals and life in an old farmhouse, all photographed by her husband, Oddur. Mimi’s convivial recipes—such as Roast Chicken with Herbs and Crème Fraîche, Cèpe and Parsley Tartlets, Winter Vegetable Cocotte, Apple Tart with Orange Flower Water, and Salted Butter Crème Caramel—will bring the warmth of rural France into your home.


For the history buff:

In the Kingdom of Ice:  The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides (Doubleday hardcover, 5 August 2014).

In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann, believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever could plant his flag upon its shores. 
On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever."  With twists and turns worthy of a thriller, In The Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most unforgiving territory on Earth.


For the spy buff:

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre (Crown Publishing hardcover, 29 July 2014).

Kim Philby was the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War—while he was secretly working for the enemy. And nobody thought he knew Philby like Nicholas Elliott, Philby’s best friend and fellow officer in MI6. 
But Philby was secretly betraying his friend. Every word Elliott breathed to Philby was transmitted back to Moscow—and not just Elliott’s words, for in America, Philby had made another powerful friend: James Jesus Angleton, the crafty, paranoid head of CIA counterintelligence. 
The stunning truth of his betrayal would have devastating consequences on the two men who thought they knew him best, and on the intelligence services he left crippled in his wake.

Grilling the Suspects

Inherit the Word (Cookbook Nook Mystery #2) by Daryl Wood Gerber (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 4 March 2014).

Jenna Hart is slowly beginning to feel more comfortable in Crystal Cove, California, where she moved after the death of her husband, to help her Aunt Vera run a culinary bookstore and cafe.  She has a kitten, a little cottage on the beach, and a group of gal-pals.

The Cookbook Nook is preparing to host the town's annual Grill Fest, a competition between local amateur chefs.  This  year, the challenge is grilled cheese sandwiches, and the contestants are fierce. Natalie Mumford has won for eight years in a row, and many of her challengers are determined that there will be no ninth.

But it's still a surprise when Nancy goes into the alley behind the store for a smoke and winds up dead.  When Jenna's "second mom" becomes the prime suspect, Jenna is determined to discover the true identity of the killer.

Besides the mystery of who killed Natalie, Jenna is also in the process of trying to figure out what really happened to her husband, David.  Although his sailboat disappeared in a storm, his body was never found, and she hasn't found closure yet.

As a foodie and a former bookseller, I can identify with Jenna. She's a likeable character, and getting to know her and watch her settle into Crystal Cove is a pleasure.


Comments on this blog post will be entered into the drawing for a copy of INHERIT THE WORD.  Please be sure to include a contact email to be included.  Entries in the US only, please.


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the author for the Advance Reading Copy.

What's Your Favorite Bookshop?

A guest post by Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames



Do you have a favorite bookshop? I do. A couple of years ago, I was invited to sign Cheese Shop Mysteries at a culinary bookshop in the quaint town of Occoquan, VA called Salt & Pepper Books. (The store has since moved to another location in National Harbor, Maryland; it’s a fabulous store. Check out its web site!)

What the heck is a culinary bookshop? Let me take you on the journey.

On that lovely day, we drove into town, which is about two-miles long and perhaps three blocks wide. On each street were shops and cafés. Salt & Pepper was located in a charming, all-white complex adorned with green shutters, beautiful columns, and fresh flowers. On both floors of the complex were darling shops that every crafter would love.

I entered the store and literally gasped. It was tiny, but the owner had stocked shelves and more shelves filled with cookbooks, a variety of culinary mysteries, and culinary fiction (like Chocolat and Water for Chocolate). She even carried books like the origin of chocolate. In addition, she offered the most darling culinary gift items like salt shakers and peppermills, cutting boards, decorative spatulas, and aprons.

While there, I had an aha moment. I knew that the store would make a wonderful setting for a cozy mystery. Mystery lovers love bookstores. They love books about books. They love mysteries that include food. This store was the inspiration for my Cookbook Nook series.

When I was doing research for my series, I searched for other culinary bookshops. I didn’t find any that matched up to what I’d seen. There were plenty of bookshops that carried cookbooks. There’s an entire floor in a Barnes and Noble in New York dedicated to cookbooks, but the people working at the store didn’t have a clue which one was good. I love that about Salt & Pepper; the owner and staff really know their business!

Now, I have other favorite bookshops, purely for buying mysteries. There’s Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach, CA. It’s a well-laid out store with a wide variety of mysteries and thrillers, including children’s and YA fiction. There’s also Poisoned Pen Press in Scottsdale, AZ, Mystery by the Book in Houston, TX, and Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA. The people that work in all of these bookstores really know books. They are readers. They have lots to recommend. Trust them.

What’s your favorite bookstore? What’s your favorite aisle in the store?



Daryl/Avery is the Agatha Award-winning author of the national bestselling Cheese Shop Mystery and Cookbook Nook Mystery series.

Prior to her career as a novelist, Daryl wrote screenplays and created the format for the popular TV sitcom Out of this World. A fun tidbit for mystery buffs, Daryl was also an actress and co-starred on Murder, She Wrote, as well as other TV shows. Daryl is originally from the San Francisco Area and graduated from Stanford University. She loves to cook, read, golf, swim, and garden. She also likes adventure and has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. She has been happily married for over twenty-five years, and she and her husband have a grown son.


Berkely Prime Crime has been kind enough to provide a copy of Inherit the Word for me to give away.  Please answer Daryl's questions in the comments, and be sure to include a valid email address.  Entries from the US only, please.

Welcome Guest Blogger Lucy Arlington!

One of my favorite kinds of books to read is a cookbook. Reading a recipe allows my mind to envision the dish it will produce, almost taste and smell it too! I love to see the photographs and can picture myself making whatever delectable cake or casserole or cookie is depicted. To me, reading a cookbook allows me to dream about food without consuming the calories!

In light of that, it seems like a foregone conclusion that I would give my character, Lila Wilkins, a murder to solve that involves cookbooks, chefs, and food. My love of food is certainly evident Lila’s personality. She loves to cook and is an avid fan of the celebrity chefs she sees on television.

In Books, Cooks, and Crooks, Lila gets to meet some of those chefs. They are clients of A Novel Idea Literary Agency, and have come to Inspiration Valley for a food festival. Lila and the agency have organized a celebrity chef event, cooking demonstrations, cookbook giveaways, and even a culinary writing contest.

But before the festival gets underway, one of the chefs dies in a kitchen explosion. When it becomes evident that this was a murder, Lila is determined to help her boyfriend, Police Officer Sean Griffiths, figure out which of the agency’s clients is a killer.

Books, Cooks, and Crooks is the third mystery in the Novel Idea Mystery series, set in the idyllic town of Inspiration Valley in the foothills of North Carolina. Other books in the series are Buried in a Book and Every Trick in the Book.


Lucy Arlington is the nom de plume for the writing team of Sylvia May and Ellery Adams. As an amalgamated personality, she is an avid reader, cook, and gardener. If she had her way, she’d divide her time between preparing delectables in her kitchen, traveling the globe on her scooter, and sitting in a comfortable chair with a cup of coffee and a paperback until her legs cramped. Lucy is devoted to her husband and children – especially when they ply her with chocolate and gift cards to bookstores. Lucy’s third novel, Books, Cooks, and Crooks has just been released. Her first two novels in the Novel Idea Mystery Series, Buried in a Book and Every Trick in the Book were both New York Times Bestsellers. Visit her website at www.lucyarlington.com.

 
Sylvia May is the author of The Unraveling of Abby Settel and the soon to be released Breathing Space. Visit her website at www.sylviamay.com.

Ellery Adams is the author of Books By the Bay Mysteries and the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries and the forthcoming Book Retreat Mysteries. Visit her website at www.elleryadamsmysteries.com.