New York Books

I have a deep love for history. More than just the fact, it's the lore - the oral lore that is woven through it. To me history always surrounded me, the curiosity of what a place was, what had happened there, who had owned it was like a big mystery waiting to be unraveled. It surprised me so many people dislike history, or see it as a dry list of dates and events. Britain was loaded with castles, duns, brochs, and stone rings. Layers of the people who inhabited the lands, not just The Picts, Scots, Gaels, Brits, Angles, but the Roman invaders. I found the South of the US was loaded with intriguing history. So many homes were touched by the War Between the States. Beautiful antebellum giants that survived the era, all carrying colorful tales. That is why I really enjoyed this book by Cheri Revai. Obviously, Revai loves history around her and sees it as a living thing reaching out to those curious enough to want to know the secrets.

She has an easy writing style and does a good job of portraying events, researching this history and the lore of places believed to be haunted. Every time I pass some structure I always wanted to know what happened there. If someone says a place is haunted, it drives me to want the facts behind the tales. Revai does this. She gives you the roots of the tale, but then very thoroughly checks with the various owners to see the experiences - or not - of the different owners. She also tells
you when a site is "by invitation only" so you know beforehand if you can actually visit the place.

The book is a fascinating, spine-tingling collection of about 30 tales covering northern New York - Jefferson County, St. Lawrence County, Franklin County and Clinton County. So those of you planning a leisurely tour of the area to see the fall colors might wish to have this little guide to give your trip even more excitement. For writers, there is a wealth of tales to spur your imagination, so I highly recommend this wonderful book.

P.S. It might interest you to know Cheri Revai is the sister of bestselling Sci-Fi Romance writer C. J. Barry!

i'm from massena ny, and i have actually been to some of these places....quite bone chilling knowing all these things occur espically when you are from that place.

Scared the living HELL outta me. Excellent, well prosed stories from the bottom of the heart.

This book is written so differently from any ghost books I've read, the author has a wonderful gift of story telling. Once you open up this book and start reading, you won't be able to put it down until your done!

This is a great book on the supernatural with amazing photos, especially those contributed by Chris Sharlow (his photos are amazing - he should have his own book)! I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever had any interest at all in, or who has ever questioned, what lives beyond. If the stories don't put a chill down your spine, the photos of Chris Sharlow surely will. I look forward to the next book and set of photos. Get this book!

The book, Hear My Sorrow, is 100 percent awesome! I read it in one day I was so needing to find out what would happen! It is about a girl named Angela Denoto from Sicily, which is in Italy, and starts in late 1909 and ends in mid 1911. She is sent to work with her sister in a shirtwaist factory. It takes place during the shirtwaist workers and cloak makers strikes and ends with a horrific tragedy. I hope you read this to find out what happens.

Hear My Sorrow is the best book in the series. It was given to me by my tudor, and I read it and loved it. It is about the sorrow of Angela, who was conmanded by her father to work ina factory. She writes about how her locker and needles come out of her pay, and how her friend, Sarah, goes on strike, this all leads up tothe fire of 1911. It's a must read.

Another wonderful addition to the Dear America Series. Angela must leave school to go to work to support her family since her father is no longer able to. Angela goes to work at a shirtwaist factory where she's surprised by the horrible working conditions and becomes involved in the unions. She also records the fire at the infamous shirtwaist factory fire.

This book was very good. The book lite up with hope at every little, page but is a heartbreaking plot. Please read this book!! It's very good!!

This is the fourth Dear America book I've read with a story and characters set in turn-of-the-century or early twentieth century New York City. In what I believe is Deborah Hopkinson's first attempt at fiction, she has wonderfully captured the people and events, the trials and triumphs, the tragedies and hopes of a most fascinating period and place. Other reviews have summarized the story throughly, so I won't go into that here. I wish rather to say that as a lover of both historical fiction and an aspiring novelist, I admire and appreciate Ms. Hopkinson's work. Scholastic Inc., should consider expanding its Dear America line. I had heard that the company only accepts agented manuscripts for consideration for the Dear America series, but further inquiry revealed that even those are not being considered. It seems that at the present, only a handful of previously published children's authors are being allowed to write new additions to the series. I hope that will change soon. Again, I congratulate Ms. Hopkinson on her excellent and meticulously researched book. That and "The Journal of Finn Reardon" should be part of every public library in America.

This is a darling book for girls and boys of ALL ages! It was given to my girls as a gift and now we give it as a birthday gift regularly! Cute and a little educational.

A story about a very special little dog which should appeal to all ages.. Beautifully told & superbly illustrated.

My daughter and I both fell in love with this charming story. Henley and his owner, Lulu are both absolutely fabulous! The artwork and poetic storyline is charming and imaginative. I am planning on stocking up on this wonderful book as Christmas presents for my family.

What a darling book about a Japanese Chin and his adventures. The art work is wonderful. Although it is officially a children's book, I appreciate it for the art work and the cute extra details put into the book. If you love dogs you will love this book, especially if you know about the Japanese Chin breed.

This is a must-have book to add to your holiday shopping for children of any age. My 6 year old and 3 year old boys have an extreme love for all sort of dogs and instantly fell in love with Henley. We hope Henley and the author will make more journeys together.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Molly Murphy series, & "In Like Flynn" is my favorite thus far. This installment combines spiritualists with a good detective story, but I actually enjoyed the characters that we meet along the way more than the mystery. As always, Molly is a very likable heroine, & I enjoy the fact that this mystery series does not focus on a wealthy woman. Many historical mysteries seem to involved a main character who is wealthy, but Molly is plain folk. Her dogged determination to make it in a man's world alone with worth the read.

This time Molly goes undercover. She runs into her worst nightmare. She also solves numerous crimes. Leave it to Molly to engross your whole attention so much that you forget where you are sitting while you are reading. This is the 4th Molly Murphy mystery and it's the best one yet.

Like the first book in this Molly Murphy series, this book is thoroughly delightful. Molly is always putting herself in danger, and just when you think she is out of trouble, trouble just seems to follow her. There were a lot of twists, turns and surprises.
Although this book is the fourth in a series, it is not necessary to read all the previous books. I did read the first book, and I plan on reading books 2 and 3 in this series.

In Like Flynn is the fourth Molly Murphy mystery. Each book gives you enough background that you can read them stand alone if you wish, but they a best read in order. I read the of them in a few days. They are easy reads that blend history, mystery and a little romance very well. Molly is a single young lady who had to leave Ireland in a bit of a rush after an incident involving her families landlord's son. She arrives in the New York under an assumed name, escorting two young children, and stumbles into a murder before she leaves Ellis Island (Murphy's Law). She has a hard time finding a "suitable job" for an opinionated female and eventually finds herself to be an investigator (Death of Riley). This book takes Molly out of NYC to the high dollar estates along the Hudson River. As always, Molly's assignment takes a turn for the strange as she discovers that the two spiritualists she has been paid to investigate are not the only mysterious people around

IN LIKE FLYNN is the fourth novel in the Molly Murphy mystery series written by Rhys Bowen. Molly is the gritty young woman who could be the poster girl for women's rights a decade later than her time. She's a fiery red-haired colleen from Ireland who lives in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. She practices the trade of private investigation as her livelihood. But her gender gets in the way much of the time. A former boyfriend, Captain Daniel Sullivan of the New York City Police Department, gives her a job that takes her out of the city. When she spends time in the Hudson River Valley at the private estate of a U.S. Senator, Barney Flynn, she escapes the ravages of a typhoid fever epidemic in the city.

Her job is to watch two spinster sisters at their trade. They assist persons in grief by contacting the dead through a séance. Daniel authorizes Molly to investigate the two for a reason to prosecute. He thinks they are bogus and play on the tragedies of their victims. The Senator's wife, Theresa, mourns her son who was kidnapped from the estate five years before. Her second child, Eileen, reminds her more of her loss. Theresa remains inconsolable, grasping at remote possibilities to reunite with her dead child.

Molly is shown as spunky, bright, energetic and living on the verge of propriety for a young woman of her day. However, she exhibits a vulnerability to feminine emotion that makes her real. She's moved on romantically but leans on her former lover for support. She's masquerading as a distant cousin from Ireland who visits the Flynns. But shadows from her past life thwart her in the form of a man she's been accused of killing back in her homeland.

Life at the turn of the century is a pallet drawn well in IN LIKE FLYNN. Bowen writes her characters well, especially the female side. Her men are not as easy to like, with the exception of the police detective. The butler, gardener, male secretary, and even the Senator are more predictable characters then their female counterparts. The Senator is a wanderer, chasing all young skirts on the property. At the same time he indulges his wife's whims and dominates her with petty minutia.

The mystery has twists and turns that lead to a pleasing outcome, though not altogether fulfilling. IN LIKE FLYNN isn't a story that yearns for a sequel, but it does leave the details of Molly's future open-ended. Thus, we'll look for the next Molly Murphy mystery at the bookstores.

A majority of modern mysteries deal with murder, mayhem and today's technologies. IN LIKE FLYNN is a pleasant change in the genre, relying on old-fashioned problem solving, without benefit of cell phones, computers and speeding police chases. Bowen's style is deserving of the awards she has received for her suspense-filled stories.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

I randomly picked this book up at the local library not realizing how magnificent it would be. I wanted a breather from all the romance novels I've been hooked on lately and boy what a difference! It was a very depressing story. There are particular lines in the book that are still lingering in my mind. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but when Evan gets back with his ex-wife and they're talking of the past and he realizes the child she had with another man could have been theirs, but it wasn't.(please read the book and you'll understand) As a reader I felt his pain and misery for the mistakes he made that he couldnt take back, but was trying to mend. When I finished reading this book I could not stop crying; it's that touching!I read a review somewhere where the reviewer is saying this book is not depressing, but I beg to differ! It is very depressing and nostalgic, yet I got the message the author was sending. I highly recommend it.

I read this book over the past 4 days, and it is still with me. I found myself doing something I rarely do when reading... going back and re-reading certain passages because of the pure, simple beauty of Long's writing and clarity of his observations on love, live, and death. Evan Molloy is certainly flawed and not the most sympathetic character, but this is what makes him so utterly likeable... he could be you, me, our sibling, our neighbor, anyone. As his mother tells him early on, he has a charmed life - a happy childhood, education, meaningful work, and marriage to his soul mate, who he then wrongs in the worst way. Later, given the chance to love again, he is betrayed by his own mind, suffering from mental illness. His suspension between the living world and the afterlife, and his 'relationship' with the new owner of his home, 30-something Maureen, herself struggling to find her footing after leaving her job and fleeing a destructive affair, allow him to reflect and uncover the mysteries of his own death, and ultimately for him to be free.

The premise of a lonely ghost observing life going on in the house in which he died is what attracted me to David Long's novel. But that idea is actually a rather slight portion of this story.

For reasons neither he, nor the reader, ever understand, Evan is doomed to remain in the house in which he committed suicide 10 years earlier. While the premise is fantastical, the tone of the novel is not. We see Evan's life is fragmented, almost swirling snapshots, which seem appropriate for a lost soul still piecing his recollections together. Long writes beautifully in a very literate style and much of the story is Evan reflecting upon his life. And the events of his life are rather prosaic and mundane. He meets his wife, marries her, has an affair, is divorced, reunites with his wife and her troubled daughter. Perhaps Long's point is that life is mundane. But Long's elegant, somewhat melacholy prose holds the reader more than the story itself.

There's a slightness to the narrative. And Evan's connection to Maureen, the woman living in 'his' house doesn't seem fully fleshed out. What is it about her that touches him more than the previous tenants in the house? (She seems to most resemble the woman with whom he had an affair, but that connection is never made explicit.) We follow Evan's mental collapse leading to his suicide in the flashbacks, but it feels a bit arbitrary. There's a slightly aloof quality to Long's story and prose and Evan remains an oddly generic character. It's clear long before the reader gets to the end of this book that there will be no tidy conclusion to this story. And there isn't. And since the emotional impact of the ending hinges on Evan's connection with Maureen, it's puzzling that this connection is what is slighted for much of the novel.

This is a lovely novel -- readable, if not entirely compelling, but perhaps not what many readers might expect from its other-worldly premise.

I have not, in the past, felt compelled to write reviews on the internet, but this book is so haunting, smart, poetic, and strange, I can't help myself from asserting to potential readers: read it. This is an author who has such a sense of the nature of human beings, their motivations, the depths of the psyche--it changed the way I'll ever again see some of the people in my life. While I was reading it, I found myself talking to its characters, recalling its details, singings its praises to strangers. It entered my dreams! I'm not doing it just, but will say, you won't find another novel like this, and you won't forget it.

Evan commits suicide and returns 10 years after his death to his Seattle area home where he tries to understand "why" he did it - he reflects on his life and his quest for strength to escape his battle with depression and failed relationships. The book is dark and often foggy and rainy like its setting in winter in the Pacific Northwest. However, it is beautifully written and places the reader in the shoes of one where if your DNA was off-kilter just a tad - you can imagine that it could happen to you...

THis book is awesome mix of "Don Quixote," "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy," and the "Colloquies of Erasmus." ... With a dash of Rabelais and Boccaccio for good measure.

In other words: playful bawdy post modern meta narrative where carnivalesque stories weave in and out of each other. Ive read a few things by Diderot and this is my fav so far.

I'm a big fan of The Manuscript Found in Saragossa - so its shocking to learn that it leans so heavily on Jacques. I found Jacques to be more entertaining than Sterne's work.

It may be your destiny to read and adore the pithy wit of Diderot. At a time when the novel was new as a genre as a contemporary of Sterne and Richardson, Diderot confronts the religion and philosophy of his day entrenched in the idea that man's fate was written on a scroll on high and that man only acted out a bit part devoid of real choice in his slavery to destiny. Pre-destination did not sit well with Diderot and Jacques is the novelist in this "dog's breakfast" he has served up railing aginst his own genre to assert his humanity and freedom on his picaresque journey to nowhere. "Does anyone know where they're going?" certainly sounds like Beckett who lived in France and may well have read Diderot. Jacques is forced to conclude that people think they are in charge of their destiny when their destiny is in charge of them. What choice does the fatalist really have except to resign to his fate? Because life is a series of endless misunderstandings, it isn't easy to be captain of one's own soul. The epigrams are deliciously well phrased: "Virtue is an excellent thing. Both good people and wicked people speak highly of it." Or this: "I think there are some very odd things written up there on high." The wicked fable of the Sheath and the Knife is certainly memorable. Jacques is genuinely hilarious in many places and despite Diderot's scathing complaints of the early novel, he wrote wrote an enduring classic beloved because of its pure wit, audacity, irony and uncanny phrasing. I urge you to read this great early novel destined to foretell the promise bound to follow for the genre.

This book is amazing. It will make many of your conceptions of where things belong in the history of the novel fall apart. Not coincidentally, that is one of the points of this book, being an exercise more than a message: that all apparent armatures of order are one more perspective away from disintegration. This book is really quite sneaky as well. In the beginning, the constant references to the inscriptive certainties in the heavens seem silly. But then little explanations come along (like the geneology of Jacques' crazy horse), and the novel heads down a dark, yet very enchanting road, into a fuzz that's every bit as modern as any you've read. This thing alternately looks like Bunuel, Zola, Stendhal, Faulkner, Kerouac. The picaresque, the uncertain narrator, the structuralists, all seem to be swimming around in this amazing book.

Surely many writers and artists from this era (like Goya) depicted the nobles as effete and incapable of carrying out the governance of the most basic requirements of existence, but here, they also appear (in the image of the 'master') as so withdrawn from the world as to be blind. If you take away all the stories that are told, the only thing that's left of a plot here is the master having his horse stolen right from under his nose while Jacques was gone and then Jacques finding it for him at the end in a beautiful, mock sort of deus ex machina.

Two centuries or so before "modern" writers began writing experimental novels, Denis Diderot, the force behind the Encyclopaedia effort, wrote this strange and indeed very "modern" novel in which the author leads a conversation with the reader, asking him where he (or she, of course) would want to go and what to do with the characters and the story. Here we see the author in the very process of creation, exposing his doubts, exploring his options, and playing with the story.

There is really no plot as such. Jacques, a man who seems to believe everything that happens is already written "up on high", but who nonetheless keeps making decisions for himself, is riding through France with his unnamed master, a man who is skeptic of Jacques's determinism but who remains rather passive throughout the book. Fate and the creator-author will put repeatedly to test Jacques's theory, through a series of more or less fortunate accidents and situations, as well as by way of numerous asides in the form of subplots or stories.

The novel is totally disjointed and these asides and subplots blurb all over the place, always interrupted themselves by other happenings. The most interesting of them is the story of Madame de Pommeroy and her bitter but ultimately ineffectual revenge on her ex-lover.

Diderot confesses to having taken much from Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" and Cervantes's "Don Quixote". This last novel's influence seems obvious at two levels: Cervantes also talks to the reader, especially in Part Two, and also reflects abundantly on the creative process. Moreover, the tone and environment of the book is very similar to the Quixote: two people engaged in an endless philosophical conversations while roaming around the countryside and facing several adventures which serve to illustrate one or antoher point of view.

Diderot's humour is bawdy and practical and the book is fun to read. The exact philosophical point is not clearcut, but it will leave the reader wondering about Destiny, Fate, and Free Will.

Yeah. Believe all the reviews below. This book really is amazing. It would feel like it was written yesterday, if it was more derivative -- but it's fresh! The language is incisive, no waste, and the pacing and structure are brilliantly fluid. It's smart and funny, too, and completely unpredictable, filled with weird offhand bursts of bewildering narrativity. And yet balanced, apparently sane. I truly enjoyed reading it. It's great.

GET IT. It was a good one. I picked this book up with no expectations and found myself drawn into the world of law enforcement and the pressure of what I can only imagine being in the main character's (Ray Dolan)position. Lots of twists, you will try to figure it out chapter after chapter! A good reminder that everyone is walking through a minefield of temptations.

While there is nothing truly original here, this is nevertheless a very well done noir novel in the classic mold: as the back cover says, a cross between Body Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Very true. This is a gripping read for sure; Kelly does know how to make you keep turning pages.

Officer Ray Dolan lives just down the way from the Travises, a very wealthy couple--Lance and Sheila--and their teenage daughter Brie. Dolan, single, has ambivalence about his job, possibly stemming from his father, also a cop, having committed suicide. But he gets along well with his fellow officers, especially Frank Kaiser, who, after many years of marriage, finds his wife having an affair. Also on the scene is Leanne Corvino, a local TV news anchor.

Dolan and Corvino hook up briefly, but after catching sight of his sexy neighbor, Sheila Travis, Dolan forgets about Corvino and develops serious hots for Sheila. Needless to say, complications ensue. Turns out Sheila's husband has questionable morals. Turns out Sheila is not happy with Lance. Turns out Sheila and Ray (Dolan) get something going.

It also turns out that Sheila, Lance, Frank, Ray, and Leanne all have stuff going on involving each other that does not seem apparent initially and that definitely makes for noir-themed fiction at its best.

This is a great read for those who like their noir juicy and involving. Yeah, I liked it a lot.

Jack Kelly explores sexual obsession and how it leads good to become evil in this sharp and moody novel. The characters are thoroughly modern (a girl named Brie can only happen in modern America), their situation as timeless as Adam and Eve. The writing is funny, acute, and poetic. Ray and Sheila propell the plot to its cathartic conclusion, completely believably. This is a writer who knows how to combine the best crime writing with the best literary writing. Don't miss it.

Line of Sight is full of classic noir-cop-detective elements, so I thought I was nestling into comfortable fiction territory as I settled into reading the book. But Jack Kelly has written a book that is simultaneously familiar yet new, nostalgic yet fresh. Kelly's characters are familiar with a twist, predictable yet surprising. His telegraphic style at first seemed choppy and awkward to me, yet by page three his concise words were painting vivid scenes of landscapes both psychic and physical. I thoroughly enjoyed the synthesis of familiar and new in this book. Its images and emotional mood will stay with you for a long time.

"Nobody's innocent," says Sheila, one of the key characters in Line of Sight.

Ain't that the truth?! In fact, plain, ordinary, law-abiding folks can easily be drawn into a wicked web of lust, intrigue, greed, and power. The beauty of this book is in the way that Jack Kelly explores how any of us can be tempted to cross the line.

A Living Lens is a wonderful collection of photographs that not only demonstrate everyday life of Jews throughout the United States but it is accompanied by a rich text authored by witnesses to this history. Of all the photography books about the Jews of the 19th and 20th centuries thids one ranks at the top. A must see and read.

This collection and commentary was great....and more than met our expectations. It sits now on our coffee table for all to review and reminisce.

Beautiful book, well written. A book for anyone to share with their children to teach them an important part of our US history.

As the grandchild of Polish / Ukraine immigrants who read the Forvitz, this book lovingly captures the memories of a time long gone.

Earlier this year, I had participated in a tour, including the old Forward Building in Lower Manhattan, with our guide being one of the photographers for this beuatiful book. I was so happy with the book which arrived in exellent condition.

Thank you.

Renate Stone

This book was excellent. Any Italian cookbook with Aglio Olio in it (pasta in garlic oil with cheese) has got to be OK! This was a favorite dish of mine while growing up. The tomato sauce recipes were worth the price of the book alone! The author is a skilled writer in spite of what one reviewer said. I found the stories entertaining and interesting. And the recipes were as authentic as any my Sicilian mother or aunts had ever prepared. I love this book!

Great book. Great read. Just love the stories and folklore from Sicily. This the food my grandmother made and I never could find the recipes. Well, they are in this book. The sauces, pizzas, fritattas are great. Francesca Romina just won the contest in Newsday for the best Sesame Seed (Regina) biscuits in Mangia Little Itay. They were terrific and easy to make. There are recipes in this book that I have never seen before and great hints and tips along the way. The author seems to go to great lenghts to be specific for her readers. These recipes work and are well tested. I'm buying several copies for my family members.

The recepies in this book remind me of all the wonderful dishes that my Grandma used to make. I have found the pizza dough recepie tastes very close to my Sicilian Great Grandmother's pizza dough. I tend to agree that Italians keep these spicial recepies to themselves which unfortunatly die with the generations. This book brings them all back to life along with the wonderful stories and pictures that go along with them. I'm purchasing another copy for my father, who loved mine so much! I just couldn't part with it!

After so many copies of Italian books that I've thrown out, this one works. It was recommended to me by several professional cooking teachers. I made the Cassata cake, the mother or all Sicilian cakes, and it was fantasik. Romina's 7-Hour Sunday Sauce is the best I've ever made. The family went crazy with the results. I even found pizzas here I have only heard about, such as "Sicilian Christmas Pizzas" stuffed with pork and spinach, and Salted Sardine pizzas. These recipes are impossible to find, and they all worked. I also made her Lemon Cakes which has that homemade taste in the crust topped with cinnamon that I remember Grandma making. This is a book you can read for folktales or cook with. That is rare. I particularly loved the author's tips called "Secrets of Success" on the side of the pages, it helps to make cooking easier. So if you want to make an authentic Lasanga the way it was at the turn of the century or a real Sicilian pizza, the way it's made in Sicily, this is the only book that I've found that is the real thing. Bravo Francesca Romina!

This book brings the Sicilian Kitchen to every home. It's a style of cooking that is rare in my area of the country, but memories of Sausage & Peppers and fried meatballs on Sunday made my childhood complete. Some of the items here I've never even seen in print before. A little slice of Grandma's house teeming with garlic!

This is a phenomenal resource for the Mikado. The piano reduction is imminently playable, and the libretto includes the spoken dialogue between each of the vocal selections. The chorus parts are included, so this little score is the whole show in a complete package, with the exception of not being scored for the orchestra. Unless a person would want to alter some script, or lyrics (such as is commonly done in certain songs, i.e. I've Got a Little List) This Dover Vocal Score ranks right up there with the Stratford Video Production from 1982 - which is one of the best productions of this Gilbert and Sullivan classic.

This well-priced score is a great edition for student productions because it's legible and affordable!

Well, I don't know if it is perfect or not. However, it does have bar numbers, which is more than can be said for most of the vocal editions out there. AND they match the published full scores.

When you are rehearsing or doing any type of serious work with the music, being able to reference bar numbers is invariable. "Second bar of third system on page #148", just doesn't cut it.

Great for learning both dialogue and vocal score for anyone who is taking part in this production or who is just considering auditioning.

Being a serious fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's work and a performer in several of their collaborations, this is a wonderful score. It has every piece of dialogue, every song, and a great cover. If you are ever going to be in a production of 'The Mikado', buy this score!