Gotham Gal: New Links

I have just added 2 links to my blog. I have been reading 2 friends of mine. One is Jerry Colonna, who just started his blog. Jerry is smart, compassionate and is dedicated to social fairness in the world. Above all, he is a really great writer and incredibly articulate. So, I am excited about reading his blog.

The other link is to Tom Watson. Tom is a journalist but he has also proven himself to be a pretty good business person which ranks high in my book. He writes about music, sports and politics. 2 of my favorite topics. Tom has really good insight and an interesting perspective. I enjoy reading his blog.

It is truly amazing as blogs have grown over the past year on the web, it is a helluva lot more interesting to read well informed, intelligent, articulate points of view on your blog of choice than the NYTimes editorial section. It will be a very interesting election as it is and it will certainly be interesting how the media and blogs play out as people have frank discussions about the candidates that they choose.

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books of the moment

Jean Thompson: The Year We Left Home
An American novel. We follow the lives of four Iowan siblings including a cousin and how their lives take different turns. An insight into life in the midwest and the family dynamics. Each chapter blends brilliantly into the next. Beautifully written.
Michelle Haimoff: These Days Are Ours
Post 9/11 meets post college as young NYers return to their city after graduating. A super quick read with real characters. A glimpse of life in NYC, what is it like to follow in successful parents footsteps, the hardships of divorce, the difficulties of landing that first job and all the other angst that goes along at 20 years old. Really well done.
Georgia Pellegrini: Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time
Girl Hunter is about a woman chef who fulfills her desire to really get back to the roots of cooking, killing what you eat. Pellegrini takes us through grouse hunts in the south to a weekend of hunts in England. As much as I appreciated her efforts and what she did, the book was just the same thing over and over. I wanted more. Each hunt, although different, was the same story each chapter. Conceptually, an interesting journey.
Bill Clegg: Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery
If you don't believe addiction is a disease, read this book. Keeping clean is the ability to just get through each day without suffering a setback. The separation between the head, knowing that you shouldn't and the desire is powerful. A terrible disease....and that is exactly what it is, a disease.
Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson: By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop
Really well done. Every entrepreneur should read it. They lay out exactly how they want from an idea to a multi-million dollar company and all the heartache, sweat and hard work that goes in between. Bravo.
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games
Had to read this book after seeing the movie. The book is a quick read and well written. I saw the movie first so I thought they did a really good job of taking the book to the screen. I found the movie much more disturbing than the book. In the book, as always, you get better insight into what is going through the main characters head and perhaps that is why I didn't find it as upsetting. The main character is totally disturbed with the times they are living in which includes the Hunger Games that she has been picked to play in. Definitely finishing the trilogy.
Lauren Groff: Arcadia
This is the 3rd book that I have read of Groffs. She is an incredible writer with an interesting perspective and insight into people. Arcadia is set in upstate NY at a communal farm, true hippies. We get to meet all the characters through the eyes of a young child, Bit. As the years go by Arcadia falls apart and Bit has to live in the real world. I really loved the book. Amazing cast of interesting complex characters.
Rosie Alison: The Very Thought of You: A Novel
During WWII, in London, many children were displaced around the countryside. We learn about a mixture of characters who have been lost, loved and betrayed by relationships. War does strange things and this story is a small glimpse into just a few people and how that war affected them for years to come. Great first novel.
Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Glow: A Novel
Unbelievable writing for a first time novelist. We follow 6 generations of a family who begins in slavery. In all honesty, I had a hard time following the book. It is dense and you seriously need to follow every sentence. Not that easy for me.
Chad Harbach: The Art of Fielding: A Novel
First novelist that was rejected by every publishing house until one young up and coming kid saw something in this book. Not quite sure why nobody saw anything in this book before as so much crap gets published. A great story that takes place on a college campus in Wisconsin all centered around the game of baseball. Really well written about a group of interesting characters with many flaws but manage to move forward in their lives. Really liked it.
Grace McCleen: The Land of Decoration: A Novel
UK writers first novel. An incredible book about a widowed father and his daughter who are religious zealots in a factory town. Faith works in strange ways. Really enjoyed the book. A real gem of a book that subtly speaks volumes about one aspect of society. A winner.
Liz Moore: Heft: A Novel
the opening pages made me just laugh. quirky book about two peoples lives that intersect at the beginning and the end yet are always present in each of their individual stories. a tremendously overweight man who never leaves his house and a woman who met him in her youth. we follow their lives and the people who come into them. a book about lonely people and although it is sad there is something endearing about the book. really enjoyed it.
Julie Orringer: The Invisible Bridge (Vintage Contemporaries)
I loved this book...cried at parts and cried at the end. We follow a Hungarian family, but mostly one of the sons, as he begins his education in Paris pre-WWII until the war ends. A beautifully written saga of a Jewish family living through terrible times. Bravo!
Amor Towles: Rules of Civility: A Novel
Set in NYC in 1930 we follow a young woman through her career and life. Definitely a woman before her time. Really enjoyed the book. Katherine Hepburn could have played the lead!
Gail Simmons: Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater
Loved it. If you love food and the industry that has sprouted across the globe, read it!

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