On My Radar:

The Triangle: A Year on the Ground with New York's Bloods and Crips
by Kevin Deutsch
Lyon's Press
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

The Linden Triangle: Linden Avenue and Linden Place, Hempstead, Long Island. At this blighted intersection, seemingly forgotten by the middle and upper class communities that surround it, the dream of suburban comfort and safety has devolved into a nightmare of flying bullets and bloodshed. Here, a war between the Bloods and Crips has torn a once-peaceful neighborhood apart.

The book tells the true story of one year in the life of a suburban village-turned-war-zone. Written by Kevin Deutsch, award-winning criminal justice reporter for Newsday, it follows two warring gangs and the anti-violence activists and police desperate to stop them.  As the body count climbs and conflict spreads to New York City, young men wielding military grade weaponry wage a prolonged battle over pride, respect, revenge and their legacies.

Based on immersive reporting and more than 250 interviews with gang members, their families, drug addicts, police and others, The Triangle is the first insider account of a New York Bloods/Crips gang war from the only journalist ever given access to the crews’ secretive realm. Triangle is a chilling investigation of a world in which teenagers shoot their childhood friends over drug debts; where gang rape is used as a form of retaliation; and once-promising students are molded into cold-blooded assassins. 

With gang and drug-related violence responsible for as many as half of all non-domestic homicides in the United States, The Triangle will make a significant contribution to the national conversation about gangs, chronicling the effects of armed gang conflicts not just on Long Island and New York City but throughout America.

On My Radar:

Hell-Bent: One Man's Crusade to Crush the Hawaiian Mob
Jason Ryan
Lyon's Press
Hardcover

From the book jacket:

World-class beaches, fragrant frangipani, swaying palms, and hula girls. Most folks think of Hawaii as a vacation destination. Mob-style executions, drug smuggling, and vicious gang warfare are seldom part of the postcard image. Yet, Hawaii was once home to not only Aloha spirit, but also a ruthless, homegrown mafia underworld. From 1960 to 1980, Hawaiian gangsters grew rich off a robust trade in drugs, gambling, and prostitution that followed in the wake of Hawaii's tourist boom. Thus, by 1980—the year Charles Marsland was elected Honolulu's top prosecutor—the honeymoon island paradise was also plagued by violence, corruption and organized crime. The zeal that Marsland brought to his crusade against the Hawaiian underworld was relentless, self-destructive, and very personal. Five years earlier, Marsland's son had been gunned down. His efforts to bring his son's killers to justice—and indeed, eradicate the entire organized criminal element in Hawaii—make for an extraordinary tale that culminates with intense courtroom drama. Hawaii Five-O meets Wiseguy in author Jason Ryan's vigorously reported chronicle of brazen gangsters, brutal murders, and a father's quest for vengeance—all set against an unlikely backdrop of seductive tropical beauty.

New Nonfiction Paperbacks This Week:

How I Slept My Way to the Middle: Secrets and Stories from Stage, Screen, and Interwebs
by Kevin Pollak
Lyons Press
Trade Paperback

Kevin Pollak rose through the comedy club ranks at the feet of Don Rickles and Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson and George Carlin. Named one of Comedy Central’s Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians of All Time, he’s a killer impressionist—Falk, Shatner, Walken, Nicholson—a versatile actor with one of the most respected filmographies around, and an Internet pioneer. He’s done it all, and now he’s ready to spill the beans.

             Ballsy, hilarious, and revealing, How I Slept My Way to the Middle winningly combines never-before-heard stories featuring A-list entertainers with fan favorites and Kevin’s own thoughts about how he made it. He turned down his first invitation to do stand-up on The Tonight Show because he knew that he’d make a bigger impact if he sat on the couch next to Johnny. That huge risk—which paid off in spades—was just the beginning. Find out how he brought John Belushi to his knees, tortured Paul Reiser (twice), bamboozled Larry King, stole Alan Arkin’s soul, almost killed Warren Beatty, and sucked face with Robert DeNiro’s girlfriend. Now a new media entrepreneur, he’s laughing proof that if you follow your gut and believe in yourself, you can do anything you want—except have a rational conversation with Rip Torn, who’s an evil, paranoid $#!%.

Writing Is My Drink: A Writer's Story of Finding Her Voice (and a Guide to How You Can Too)
by Theo Pauline Nestor
Simon & Schuster
Trade Paperback

"Theo Nestor is a writer who, I am positive, will be heard from," wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, and hear from her we do in this enthralling memoir that doubles as a witty and richly told writing guide. Yet the real promise in Writing Is My Drink lies in Nestor's uncanny ability as a storyteller and teacher to make sure we'll also hear from you, the reader. Brimming with stories from her own writing life, and paired with practical "Try This" sections designed to challenge and inspire, this disarmingly candid account of a writer's search for her voice delivers charming, wise, and often hilarious guidance that will motivate writers at every stage of their careers.

The Ultimate Book of Impostors: Over 100 True Stories of the Greatest Phonies and Frauds
by Ian Graham
Sourcebooks
Trade Paperback

Think You Know Who Your Friends Are?  

Think again... 

From Mata Hari to D. B. Cooper, history is littered with people pretending to be someone else. Some go undetected for years, cultivating their false identities so skillfully, even their spouses don't know. Other frauds go up in flames after one misstep. The Ultimate Book of Impostors presents the astonishing true stories behind over one hundred of the craziest and funniest phonies in history, including: 

•A fake French government official who managed to sell the Eiffel Tower—twice 

•One of the Wild West's toughest and more admired "male" stagecoach drivers, who was actually a woman! 

•An Israeli Mossad team that stole the identities of real British and Australian citizens to trap an unsuspecting target for assassination 

Packed with fun facts and outrageous accounts of fake pilots, phony princesses, imitation Indians, and serial sham artists, this irresistible book exposes the truth behind the world's wildest fraud—and why they did it—and reveals that even those we think we know best may not be exactly who they seem.

New Nonfiction Paperbacks This Week

Books that look interesting to me:

The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code of Silence and the Biggest Marijuana Bust in American History
by James Higdon
Lyons Press
Trade paperback

The true story of the largest homegrown marijuana syndicate in American history, a band of Kentucky farmers descended from Prohibition-era moonshiners versus the War on Drugs. 

The Sensory Child Gets Organized: Proven Systems for Rigid, Anxious, or Distracted Kids
by Carolyn Dalgliesh
Simon & Schuster / Touchstone Books

Trade Paperback

Every year, tens of thousands of young children are diagnosed with disorders that make it difficult for them to absorb the external world. Parents of sensory kids—like those with sensory processing disorder, anxiety disorder, AD/HD, autism, bipolar disorder, and OCD—often feel frustrated and overwhelmed, creating stress in everyday life for the whole family. Now, with The Sensory Child Gets Organized, there’s help and hope.

As a professional organizer and parent of a sensory child, Carolyn Dalgliesh knows firsthand the struggles parents face in trying to bring out the best in their rigid, anxious, or distracted children. She provides simple, effective solutions that help these kids thrive at home and in their day-to-day activities, and in this book you’ll learn how to:

¦ Understand what makes your sensory child tick¦ Create harmonious spaces through sensory organizing¦ Use structure and routines to connect with your child¦ Prepare your child for social and school experiences¦ Make travel a successful and fun-filled journey

With The Sensory Child Gets Organized, parents get an easy-to-follow road map to success that makes life easier—and more fun—for your entire family.

I have a copy of this book to give away!  The first person to email me requesting it, wins!  My email address is above on the right.  

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Tomorrow on BookSpin:  New Nonfiction Hardcovers This Week

Currently Reading:

The Bohemian Love Diaries: A Memoir
by Slash Coleman
Lyons Press

Hardcover

From the publisher website:

Infused with southern charm, this irresistibly weird and wonderful story chronicles Slash Coleman’s upbringing in a warped but warm-hearted household of eccentric artists. Descended from a posse of off-beat immigrants--including a grandfather who danced at the Moulin Rouge--and raised near the capital of the Confederacy during the 1970s and ’80s, young Slash sets out to find true love. Unfortunately, he’s his own worst enemy. Obsessions with Evel Knievel, rock band KISS, and crisscrossing the country to find the girl of his dreams set his quest for happiness on a hapless course. 

Hilarious and profound, Coleman slowly comes to terms with his father, a genius sculptor and volatile alcoholic, and his mother, a Holocaust survivor who makes him promise never to reveal that he’s Jewish. A touching portrait emerges of a young artist whose passionate spirit refuses to be suppressed. A swift kick to the funny bone, The Bohemian Love Diaries and its laugh-out-loud perversity conjure Jonathan Ames and Augusten Burroughs with a tender edge, revealing what might have happened if John Hodgman raised Holden Caulfield in Chuck Palahniuk’s attic. It will leave you howling.

On My Radar:

Conning Harvard: Adam Wheeler, the Con Artist Who Faked His Way Into the Ivy League
by Julie Zauzmer
Lyons Press
Hardcover

From the publisher website:

Conning Harvard tells the story of Adam Wheeler’s lie-filled path into Harvard, his compulsive conning of grant and scholarship boards after enrolling, and the eventual discovery of his fraudulent past.

On My Radar (Thursday Edition)

How to Walk a Puma: And Other Things I Learned While Stumbling Through South America
by Peter Allison
Lyons Press
Trade Paperback

On his nineteenth birthday, Peter Allison flipped a coin. One side would take him to Africa and the other to South America, the two places he wanted to explore before he died. He recounted his time spent as a safari guide in Africa to much acclaim inWhatever You Do, Don’t RunandDon’t Look Behind You. Sixteen years later, he makes his way to Santiago, Chile, ready to seek out the continent’s best, weirdest, and wildest adventures, and to chase the elusive jaguar.

In just the first six months, Allison is bitten by a puma (several times), knocked on his ass by a bad empanada, and surrounded by piranhas while rafting down a Bolivian river—all because of his unusual fear of refrigerators and of staying in any one place for too long. Ever the gifted storyteller and cultural observer, Allison makes many observations about life in humid climes, the nature of nomadism, and exactly what it is like to be nearly blasted off a mountain by the famous Patagonia wind.

On My Radar (Thursday Edition)

The Ponds of Kalambayi: A Peace Corps Memoir
by Mike Tidwell
Lyons Press

Trade Paperback

From the book publicity:

Lovers of fine travel- and adventure-writing will savor Mike Tidwell’s richly acclaimed narrative of his days as a Peace Corps volunteer. His task was to help people in the remote corners of Zaire raise tilapia in ponds they would dig themselves, with muscle-power alone. By turns hilarious and gut-wrenching, this book—whose new edition includes a new introduction by the author—is a masterful account of culture clash, generosity of spirit, and true grit. It is a must-read for anyone with aspirations to “change the world.”

On My Radar (Monday Edition)

Dog Walks Man: A Six-Legged Odyssey
by John Zeaman
Lyons Press
Trade Paperback

From the publisher website:

 Zeaman takes us on a journey from a 'round-the-block fraternity of “dog-walking dupes”—suburban fathers who indulged their children’s wish for a dog—to a strange and forbidden wonderland at the edge of town, the New Jersey Meadowlands. Along the way, he rediscovers childhood’s forgotten “fringe places,” investigates the mysteries of the natural world, and experiences moments of inexplicable joy.

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Riding on the Edge: A Motorcycle Outlaw's Tale
by John Hall
Motorbooks

Trade Paperback

From the publisher website:

Ride with author John Hall into the turbulent world of 1960s bike club culture, from his beginnings at an upstart motorcycle club to his rise to the Long Island chapter president of the Pagans, a club that the FBI called “the most violent criminal organization in America.” Follow him into the Pagan heartland of Pennsylvania where he fell in love, got in a roadhouse brawl over a honky-tonk angel, and eventually went to jail for “takin’ care a club business.” Now after a career as a journalist and college professor, he returns to the violent days of his youth and smashes up stereotypes like he once smashed up bars, resurrecting long-dead brothers in a style reminiscent of Jack Kerouac and Mark Twain. Hall presents them as they really were: hard living, hard loving, hard drinking, hard fighting rebels, but also hardworking, patriotic, loyal, and lovable characters. Outlaws, yes, but outlaws as American as apple pie.