In My TBR Stack:

5% More: Making Small Changes to Achieve Extraordinary Results
by Michael Alden
Wiley
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

5% More presents a painless route to change, with results that can last a lifetime. Whether you want to boost your health, wealth, or wisdom, this book reveals a key technique that makes it stick. You may already know that breaking big goals into small chunks makes them easier to achieve, but the trick is in making those chunks large enough to be productive, yet small enough to be sustainable. This book shows you how to bring your goals within reach with only five percent more effort. Five percent is almost unnoticeable in terms of effort—but it accrues quickly, with each step boosting the baseline. Increase sales, decrease your marathon time, boost your savings, or master a new skill. Just five percent more can get you where you want to be.

Small changes, small commitments, and small adjustments can lead to very big results. You can accomplish more than you ever thought possible in your business or in your life. This book walks you through the 5% More strategy to help you map your path to the future.

• Accomplish big changes with very small steps
• Make bigger leaps in progress each step of the way
• Break big goals into manageable milestones
• Find a change that you can stick to for the long-term

Mountain climbers don't conquer Everest on their first time out—attempting to do so would be a tragic failure. No matter what your goal, no matter what your baseline, small, incremental steps set you up for success. 5% More gives you a concrete strategy for realizing your goals and making changes that last.

On My Radar:

The Trip: Andy Warhol's Plastic Fantastic Cross-Country Adventure
by Deborah Davis
Atria Books
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

From the author of Strapless and Guest of Honor, a “jaunty romp through American pop-art history” (The Washington Post) about a little-known road trip Andy Warhol took in 1963, and how that journey profoundly influenced his life and art.

In 1963, up-and-coming artist Andy Warhol, along with a colorful group of friends, drove across America. What began as a madcap, drug-fueled romp became a journey that took Warhol on a kaleidoscopic adventure from New York City, across the vast American heartland, all the way to Hollywood, and back.

With locations ranging from a Texas panhandle truck stop to a Beverly Hills mansion, from the beaches of Santa Monica to a photo booth in Albuquerque, The Trip captures how Warhol intersected with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Marcel Duchamp, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and other bold-faced names of the time. Along the way, Warhol also met rednecks, beach bums, underground filmmakers, artists, poets, socialites, and newly minted hippies—all of them leaving an indelible mark on his psyche.

In The Trip, Andy Warhol’s speeding Ford Falcon is our time machine, transporting us from the last vestiges of the sleepy Eisenhower epoch to the true beginning of the explosive, exciting sixties. Through in-depth, original research, Deborah Davis sheds new light on one of the most enduring figures in the art world and captures a fascinating moment in 1960s America—with Warhol at its center.

In My TBR Stack:

Sex and Death: Stories
by Sarah Hall & Peter Hobbs
Harper Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

How we come in, and how we go out, sex and death: these are the governing drives, our two greatest themes.

In this provocative, haunting, and sexy collection of short stories, a group of acclaimed writers from across the globe probes the nature of, and connection between, two of the most powerful, exhilarating, and terrifying forces that define and shape the human experience: sex and death.

Here we see the events that mark the lives of the young and old, of men and women, of those meeting only briefly and others reflecting on shared pasts.

In these intense, often traumatic, and sometimes humorous interactions, we are confronted not just with our urges and anxieties, but with the very limits of mortality and morbidity. Honest, compassionate, and psychologically astute, the stories in Sex and Death are daring in their approaches to the form and relentless in their pursuit of what it is to be human.

Kevin Barry • Lynn Coady • Ceridwen Dovey • Robert Drewe • Damon Galgut • Petina Gappah • Sarah Hall • Peter Hobbs • Yiyun Li • Alexander MacLeod • Ben Marcus • Jon McGregor • Guadalupe Nettel • Courttia Newland • Taiye Selasi • Ali Smith • Wells Tower • Alan Warner • Claire Vaye Watkins • Clare Wigfall

On My Radar:

The Jolly Roger Social Club: A True Story of a Killer in Paradise
by Nick Foster
Henry Holt
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

The true story of a series of bold killings which took place in a shadowy American ex-pat community in Panama -- a tale of greed, political history, and murder.

In the remote Bocas del Toro, Panama, William Dathan Holbert, aka "Wild Bill," is awaiting trial for the murder of five fellow American ex-patriots. Holbert;s first victims were the Brown family, who lived on a remote island in the area's Darklands. There, Holbert turned their home into the "Jolly Roger Social Club," using drink-and-drug-fueled parties to get to know other ex-pats. The club's tagline was: "Over 90% of our members survive." Those odds were not in his victim's favor.

The Jolly Roger Social Club is not just a book about what Holbert did and the complex financial and real estate motives behind the killings; it is about why Bocas del Toro turned out to be his perfect hunting ground, and why the community tolerated -- even accepted him -- for a time. Told through the fascinating history of the country of Panama, a paradise with sinister ties to the political and economic interests of the United States, journalist Nick Foster brings this uniquely bizarre place to life, shedding light on a community where many live under assumed names, desperate to leave their old lives behind - and sometimes people just disappear.

A Q&A with Author/Publicist Paula Marguiles:

The Tao of Book Publicity: A Beginner's Guide to Book Promotion
by Paula Marguiles
One People Press


 Q & A

1. You have been a book publicist for more than 25 years. What made you finally decide to write a guidebook on promotion for authors?

In the course of my publicity work, I’ve received calls from hundreds of authors, many of whom ask the same questions: When do I start my publicity campaign? How much should I plan to spend? Do I need a website? How do I build a platform? What price should I give my book? Do I have to use social media and, if so, which sites are best? Should I print a hardcover version, or will a paperback suffice? Do I need to enter contests? How can I get more reviews? 

These are all important questions, and since so many authors seem to have the same concerns about their books, I decided to share what I’ve learned over the years as a publicist in one convenient, inexpensive resource guide. 

2. The Tao of Book Publicity has a Zen look and feel to the cover and title. How does understanding the Tao principles help authors to promote their books? 

I chose the Tao as a way of offering authors a practical philosophy on how they might approach book marketing. There are many authors who find promotion crass and time-consuming; a good majority would rather be writing than spending time trying to develop promotional material and schedules for themselves and their work. But I’ve found that book promotion can be a rewarding and fulfilling activity if done with the right perspective in mind. 

As I describe in the book, most book publicity comes from a place of not-knowing; there are people we approach, for example, for reviews or interviews, but we cannot strong-arm those individuals into giving us what we want. Instead, we take the time to think about what our message is, who we are targeting with that message, and how to propose it in the most succinct, relevant, and motivating way we can. We then present our message (what most in my business call our “pitch”), and then follow-up with persistence to try to get a yes response. Our results are never guaranteed – it is up to the reporters or editors we contact to decide if the message we’re sharing is right for them. But when we come from a place of humility and unattachment, we tend to do a better job of both preparation (in which case, we usually achieve the goals we’re attempting) and managing our expectations. 

3. What other aspects of book publicity to do you cover in the book?

I provide how-to explanations for developing publicity material, including front and back cover text, press releases, Q&As, media and blog tour queries, and newsletter and media lists. I also cover topics such as social media, book pricing and sales, book tours and media interviews, and author websites. In addition to explaining how book publicity works, I also discuss practical topics such as publicity costs, timing, and considerations when hiring a publicist; I’ve found that many authors want to know upfront about fees for services and what steps they should have completed before they contact a publicist like me. 

4. If you have one piece of advice for new authors, what would it be?

That’s easy – write a good book! 

Of course, that’s easier said than done. I’ve found that oftentimes authors, especially those who have chosen to self-publish, are in a rush to get their books out. In their hurry, they forgo important steps like workshopping the book, spending time on revision, hiring a professional editor and cover designer, and developing their platforms. As a result, many of their books, sadly, don’t sell. If authors want their books to be well-received by booksellers, the media, and (most important) readers, they must take the time to carefully edit, polish, and package them well – there is no substitute for these steps in the publishing process.

5. Can you describe how an author might use this book as a guide to his or her own publicity plans?

Authors can read the chapters in any order they like (each chapter is designed to be read as stand-alone unit) and see what sounds as if it might be a good fit for them and their books. If something doesn’t sound right, they don’t have to use it. The information in the chapters is there to provide guidance and insight into what I believe are the common practices of most book publicists, but none of what’s there is meant to be a hard-and-fast prescription for any author’s individual book publicity plans.

6. Are you working on another book? If so, what can you tell us about it?

In addition to this latest book, I’m also the author of the short story collection, Face Value: Collected Stories, and two novels: Coyote Heart, which is a modern-day romance about a married woman who falls in love with a Pala Indian man, and Favorite Daughter, Part One, a first-person retelling of the life story of the famous Native American legend, Pocahontas. I’d like to get back to writing fiction and plan to spend the next year completing Part Two of Favorite Daughter. 

Guest Post:

Real Men Wear Beige “One man’s jailhouse journey through the chaotic realm of concrete and steel”

By Donato Alfredano

As an author, my inspiration comes from life altering events.  As you might imagine, the more intense and profound the event is, the more compelled I am to write about it.  My first book, titled “Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart” tells the story of raising my son who was diagnosed with autism at the age of four but then went on to become a PhD, working with NASA and other space science institutions.  His story of triumph and inspiration is a shining example of the term “life altering.”

But not all life altering events are happy ones. You know what they say… ”Life’s a bitch.”  For me, maybe more like a roller coaster.  Yes, it only took a few bad choices and a tempestuous lifestyle to
land me behind bars.  In my new book, “Real Men Wear Beige,” I strive to shine a light on the realities of incarceration and provide my readers with an insider’s perspective on prison life, with a strong focus on humanity and veracity.

We are all impacted differently by the books we read and we are all affected by different components of the same story.  Aside from being absorbed or intrigued by the book as a whole, there are three impressions I hope readers of Real Men Wear Beige will be left with:
So, you paid your price to society.  It’s all behind you now… right?

Try to imagine it.  You’re being plucked out of the polarizing world of stagnation and insanity, known as prison, and dropped into the free world, the real world, full of relative stability, free choice and diversity. 

The good news is that you’re home, you’re free, and you’ve paid you’re price to society.  The bad news is that nobody else sees it that way.  To them you’re still a felon, an ex-con and an underdog.  In Real Men Wear Beige, I strive to explain my rude awakening as I trudged through the obstacles that my new title of convicted felon afforded me long after my release from prison.  In today’s world of the explicit and unforgiving internet, finding employment, renting a home, and many other everyday affairs become a battle and a block wall for a newly released inmate, especially in terms of acclimating and becoming a productive member of society.  You supposedly paid your price to society and should be able to start with a clean slate, right?  Wrong, in actuality you will wear the proverbial anchor of injustice around your neck for… well… ever. 

But they’re just jailbirds, felons and thugs. Right?

OK, but there is a human side.  Prison is all about people.  In Real Men Wear Beige, I’ve proclaimed “prison is a microcosm of the best and the worst that society has to offer - from the dregs to the divine.”  I’ve strived to exemplify the diverse personalities of many of the interesting and often peculiar individuals I encountered throughout my jailhouse journey. In other words, I attempted to understand them and examine their attitudes and convictions.

But why… what’s the point?  The answer is simple:  There is a “disconnect”, an animosity, and a blind spot in our society that makes reasonableness and reformation practically impossible to achieve in our broken prison system.  We are essentially incapable of recognizing inmates as real individuals who made some bad choices for which they have been held accountable.  No, not every inmate is innately fiendish and immoral.  Undeniably, prison houses the child molesters and murderers, but the absolute majority of inmates are real people who are just trying to slog their way toward the light at the end of the tunnel.  Here’s a thought… how about treating people for who they are, not what they did?

But you get a “fair and reasonable” sentence. Right?

Not always. Americans are finally beginning to realize that our “not-so-perfect” sentencing process may warrant a second look.  Mass incarceration and the overwhelming impact it has on families, economic livelihoods, and the quality of life for children growing up without mothers and fathers, is beginning to cause many to re-think their preconceived notions of what constitutes a “fair and reasonable” prison sentence. Prison reform?  Call it what you like, but re-thinking mandatory sentencing laws and the criteria used by our court system to determine what is actually fair and reasonable are a good starting point. In Real Men Wear Beige, I’ve pointed to an implicit lack of discretion and diversity in the sentencing process, resulting in the one-size-fits-all approach to prison sentencing in the USA. It’s about time we make an effort to fix it.  After all, “The vilest deeds, like prison weeds, grow well in prison air.  It’s only what is good in man that wastes and withers there.”  Oscar Wilde

Donato Alfredano, 
Author, Songwriter, Educator

Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart

also by Donato Alfredano

with Giada Star

On My Radar:

A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between
by Linda Thompson
Dey Street Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

For the last forty years, award-winning songwriter Linda Thompson has quietly led one of the most remarkable lives in show business. The longtime live-in love of Elvis Presley, Linda first emerged into the limelight during the 1970s when the former beauty pageant queen caught the eye of the King. Their chance late-night encounter at a movie theater was the stuff of legend, and it marked the beginning of a whirlwind that would stretch across decades, leading to a marriage with Bruce Jenner, motherhood, and more drama than she ever could have imagined.

Now for the first time, Linda opens up about it all, telling the full story of her life, loves, and everything in between. From her humble beginnings in Memphis to her nearly five year relationship with Elvis, she offers an intimate window into their life together, describing how their Southern roots fueled and sustained Graceland's greatest romance. Going inside their wild stories and tender moments, she paints a portrait of life with the King, as raucous as it is refreshing. But despite the joy they shared, life with Elvis also had darkness, and her account also presents an unsparing look at Elvis's twin demons—drug abuse and infidelity—forces he battled throughout their time together that would eventually end their relationship just eight months before his untimely death.

It was in the difficult aftermath of Elvis's death that Linda found what she believed was her true home: the arms of Olympic gold medal-winner Bruce Jenner. Detailing her marriage to Bruce, Linda reveals the apparently perfect life that they built with their two young sons—Brandon and Brody—before Bruce changed everything with a secret he'd been carrying his entire life, a secret that Linda herself kept for nearly thirty years, a secret that Bruce's transition to Caitlyn Jenner has finally laid bare for the world. Providing a candid look inside one of the most challenging moments of her life, Linda uncovers the struggles she went through as a woman and a mother, coming to terms with the reality of Bruce's identity and resolving to embrace him completely no matter what, even as it meant they could no longer be together,

And yet, despite her marriage unraveling, her search for love was not over, eventually leading her to the legendary music producer and musician David Foster, a relationship that lasted for 19 tumultuous years, resulting in a bond that spurred her songwriting career to new heights but also tested her like never before. Filled with compelling and poignant stories and 16 pages of photographs, A Little Thing Called Life lovingly recounts Linda's incredible journey through the years, bringing unparalleled insight into three legendary figures.

On My Radar:

The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes
by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Jeffrey E. Stern
Public Affairs Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

 On August 21, 2015, Ayoub al-Khazzani boarded the 15:17 train in Brussels, bound for Paris. Khazzani's mission was clear: he had an AK-47, a pistol, a box cutter, and enough ammunition to obliterate every passenger on the crowded train. Slipping into the bathroom in secret, he armed his weapons and prepared to launch his attack.

But when he emerged, he encountered something he hadn't anticipated: three Americans who refused to give in to fear.

Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone were childhood friends, taking a vacation together. They had some relevant training: Stone is a martial arts enthusiast and Airman First Class in the US Air Force; Skarlatos is an active duty member of the Oregon National Guard; and not one of the three was afraid of a fight. But their decision—to charge the gunman, then overpower him even as he turned first his gun, then his knife, on Stone—would never have happened if they hadn't had a lifetime of trust, support, and loyalty between them.

This book is the gripping, true story of a terrorist attack that would have killed more than 500 people if not for their actions, but it is also the story of three American boys and their friendship.

Using each hero's point of view in sequence, The 15:17 to Paris skillfully builds the drama of the attack, while weaving in the stories of the protagonists' lives, the friendship and loyalty that would come to define them, and the events that led them, inexorably, to that fateful day.
The 15:17 to Paris is an amazing true story of unparalleled, unexpected courage, and people coming together against fear rather than splitting apart. It is a story of near tragedy averted by three young men who found the heroic unity and strength inside themselves that we all aspire to.

On My Radar:

The Sibling Connection: How Siblings Shape Our Lives
by Jane Mersky Leder
Amazon Digital Services, LLC
e-Book

From the author:

A book for adults about siblings, The Sibling Connection: How Siblings Shape Our Lives, explores the often mysterious, complex, and constantly changing sibling connection.  Contrary to popular belief, life’s longest relationship is not dictated by rivalry, even when siblings compete during childhood.  Siblings are major players in our lives and impact everything from our choice of profession to our choice of a husband, wife, or partner. Siblings are reflections of ourselves and help us better understand who we are, why we are, and the way we are. 

On My Radar:

Code Name: Papa ~ My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight
by John Murray as told to Sharon Murray with Abby Jones
Archway Publishing
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

Who'd have thought a bright, but fairly ordinary young man from middle class America who got just above average grades, dated the same girl throughout high school and went to church most Sundays, would grow up to eventually head a very secretive band of brave individuals--both men and women--who regularly put their lives on the line because they wanted to protect the rest of you. Yet that's what we did, often sacrificing our personal lives (four marriages for me, all in the book) and our health (countless broken bones, major surgeries, even death) to do it.

Meanwhile you're just going to have to call me "Papa" like everyone else around the globe has through most of those wildly unpredictable and dangerous years.

On My Radar:

The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo
by Amy Schumer
Gallery Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

The Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and star of Inside Amy Schumer and the acclaimed film Trainwreck has taken the entertainment world by storm with her winning blend of smart, satirical humor. Now, Amy Schumer has written a refreshingly candid and uproariously funny collection of (extremely) personal and observational essays.

In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is—a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.

Ranging from the raucous to the romantic, the heartfelt to the harrowing, this highly entertaining and universally appealing collection is the literary equivalent of a night out with your best friend—an unforgettable and fun adventure that you wish could last forever. Whether she’s experiencing lust-at-first-sight while in the airport security line, sharing her own views on love and marriage, admitting to being an introvert, or discovering her cross-fit instructor’s secret bad habit, Amy Schumer proves to be a bighearted, brave, and thoughtful storyteller that will leave you nodding your head in recognition, laughing out loud, and sobbing uncontrollably—but only because it’s over.

In My TBR Stack:

A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression
by Jane Ziegelman & Andrew Coe
Harper Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

From the author of the acclaimed 97 Orchard and her husband, a culinary historian, an in-depth exploration of the greatest food crisis the nation has ever faced—the Great Depression—and how it transformed America’s culinary culture.

The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country’s political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America’s relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished—shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.

In 1933, as women struggled to feed their families, President Roosevelt reversed long-standing biases toward government-sponsored “food charity.” For the first time in American history, the federal government assumed, for a while, responsibility for feeding its citizens. The effects were widespread. Championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, “home economists” who had long fought to bring science into the kitchen rose to national stature.

Tapping into America’s long-standing ambivalence toward culinary enjoyment, they imposed their vision of a sturdy, utilitarian cuisine on the American dinner table. Through the Bureau of Home Economics, these women led a sweeping campaign to instill dietary recommendations, the forerunners of today’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

At the same time, rising food conglomerates introduced packaged and processed foods that gave rise to a new American cuisine based on speed and convenience. This movement toward a homogenized national cuisine sparked a revival of American regional cooking. In the ensuing decades, the tension between local traditions and culinary science has defined our national cuisine—a battle that continues today.

A Square Meal examines the impact of economic contraction and environmental disaster on how Americans ate then—and the lessons and insights those experiences may hold for us today.

In My TBR Stack:

Riverine: A Memoir From Anywhere But Here
by Angela Palm
Graywolf Press
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

Angela Palm grew up in a place not marked on the map, in a house set on the banks of a river that had been straightened to make way for farmland. Every year, the Kankakee River in rural Indiana flooded and returned to its old course while the residents sandbagged their homes against the rising water. From her bedroom window, Palm watched the neighbor boy and loved him in secret, imagining a life with him even as she longed for a future that held more than a job at the neighborhood bar. For Palm, caught in this landscape of flood and drought, escape was a continually receding hope.            

           

Though she did escape, as an adult Palm finds herself drawn back, like the river, to her origins. But this means more than just recalling vibrant, complicated memories of the place that shaped her, or trying to understand the family that raised her. It means visiting the prison where the boy she loved is serving a life sentence for a brutal murder. It means trying to chart, through the mesmerizing, interconnected essays of Riverine, what happens when a single event forces the path of her life off course.