Article first published as Book Review: Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America by Thomas J. Craughwell on Blogcritics. About: Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America by Thomas J. Craughwell is a non-fiction book which covers the time Jefferson spent as an ambassador in Europe from a culinary point of view. At the time, Hemings was 20 years younger then Jefferson and brother to the young Sally Hemings. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy to three (3) winners of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post 256 pages Publisher: Quirk Books Language: English ISBN-10: 1594745781 My rating for Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format* More Books By Thomas J. Craughwell Thoughts: I was excited to read Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America by Thomas J. Craughwell, I have read a few books about Thomas Jefferson but never from this perspective. I even went to the local liquor store and picked up Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale…

Article first published as Book Review: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller on Blogcritics. About: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller is a German novel taking place in a Soviet forced labor camp at the end of World War II. Ms. Müller won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. 304 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books Language: English ISBN-10: 080509301X My rating for The Hunger Angel – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format* More Books by Herta Müller Check out this & more World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller takes place in 1945, when the Soviet Union demanded that all Romanian Germans who are 17 to 45 years of age be relocated to forced labor camps in order to help rebuild the devastated nation. According to the author’s note at the end of the book, she spent many hours talking to poet Oskar Pastior who suffered under the decree. Müller filled four notebooks with Mr. Pastior’s testimony until 2006, when he suddenly passed away. This is an extraordinary book about the hardships the German people faced after the war, as Leo Auberg, the protagonist states: “To this day, the hunger angel speaks out of your mouth. But no matter what he says, this…

Nat Jaffe and Archy Stallings are the owners of Brokeland Records, one of the few bastions of vinyl record stores left in Oakland, CA circa 2004. In comes Gibson Goode, ex-NFL star, multi-millionaire and entrepreneur who wants to open his Dogpile megastore in the area. The megastore will force Brokeland Records, who are struggling as it is, to close

There was a time when i was absolutely fascinated by the American Civil War. I read every book (reviews to come) I could get my hands on, scoured websites, went on battleground field trips and talked to other aficionados. To this day I still have a big interest in that time period, even though not as enthusiastic. At the time of this post, the books below were free or $0.99 — please check before downloading. Authors: If you’d like your book to be fea­tured on Tight­wad Tues­days please email me. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Struggle for Round Top (Illustrated) by Evander M. Law *Illustrated with maps and pictures of the battle and its important generals *Includes Table of Contents Without question, the most famous battle of the Civil War took place outside of the small town of Gettysburg from July 1-3, 1863. Over those three days, nearly 8,000 would die, over 30,000 would be casualties, and the most famous attack of the war, Pickett’s Charge, would fail Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The South would go on to lose the war, and when it did, the importance of Gettysburg as one of the “high tide”…

Article first published as Book Review: Vlad by Carlos Fuentes on Blogcritics. About: Vlad by Carlos Fuentes is a short novel taking place in Mexico City, Mexico. The story was part of the 2004 collection “Inquieta Compañía” and recently came out as its own book translated by Alejandro Branger and Ethan Shaskan Bumas. 112 pages Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; Tra edition Language: English ISBN-10: 1564787796 My rating for Vlad – 4 Buy this book in paper format from Amazon.com* Thoughts: Vlad by Carols Fuentes takes on an interesting premise, what if Dracula still lived and settled inMexico City. As one might expect, there is a lot of dark humor in this book, starting with the strange requests the client is making of the real estate agent (“remote”, “easy to defend”) to the client’s look which consists of a silly wig and glued on mustache. What I found to be different in this book is that the reader knows a lot more than the narrator. This style of storytelling invigorates the dark comedy and brings a sense of ominous foreboding to banal and meaningless lines said by the famous Count. In this rendition of the story, Fuentes marries vampire and lawyers – both server as vessels for…

Article first published as Book Review: Michael Douglas: A Biography by Marc Eliot on Blogcritics About: Michael Douglas by Marc Eliot is a biography of the famous actor/producer. Mr. Douglas is an award winning actor and producer who had his share of ups and downs yet always managed to capture attention. 352 pages Publisher: Crown Archetype (September 18, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0307952363 My rating for Michael Douglas: A Biography – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format* More Books by Mark Eliot Thoughts: Michael Douglas by Marc Eliot (website) highlights the accomplishments in Mr. Douglas’ professional and personal career as well as what influenced and drove the man to achieve such levels of height and fame. Mr. Eliot concentrates on Douglas’ competitive nature as well as his relationship with his parents, especially his famous father. The relationship between Michael and Kirk Douglas is the cornerstone of this book. The author even encompasses a mini-biography of Kirk Douglas, from his defining childhood as a son to Jewish Russian immigrants and his success as a movie star to his recent stroke. Once the reader understands Kirk, we can understand Michael and the love/hate relationship which defined much of young…

Article first published as Book Review: Black Fridays by Michael Sears on Blogcritics. About: Black Fridays by Michael Sears is a novel which capitalizes on the author’s Wall Street experience providing interesting insights on financials capers. This is a first book by Mr. Sears and seems to be the first of a series. 352 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult Language: English ISBN-10: 0399158669 My rating for Black Fridays – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format Thoughts: Black Fridays by Michael Sears (website | Facebook) is a novel about financial schemes, murder and greed but mostly about the meaning of fatherhood. While I couldn’t begin to understand the complexity of the scam which Jason Stafford, the protagonist, pulled over his Wall Street bosses, I liked the other aspects of this book. Jason has a son which he is fighting for. After spending a couple of years in jail Jason certainly wasn’t up for the “Father of the Year” award, but neither was his white trash ex-wife, her fixation with abusive men and her way of dealing with autism (locking the kid in a room at his grandmother’s house so he won’t hurt himself). I enjoyed the financial aspect of the book and the…

Article first published as Book Review: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell on Blogcritics. About: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell is a feminine take on the famous Burroughs novel. This book tells the famous story from the view point of Jane Porter, Tarzan’s love interest. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 320 pages Publisher: Tor Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0765333589 My rating for Jane – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More Books by Robin Maxwell Thoughts: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell (website | Facebook | @TheRobinMaxwell) is not a retelling of the origin story of Tarzan, but a reimagining of the mythology originally created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I was very excited about this novel, Tarzan has always been a favorite (who can forget those wonderful comics and Johnny Weissmuller films) and in preparation read the original Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. To be honest, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book again (I read it as a kid), I can certainly see why it is considered a classic and captures the imagination of…

About: The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein is a coming of age novel set in the 1960s. This is the author’s debut novel and I hope he will pen a few more. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. My rating for The Bookie’s Son – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format Thoughts: The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein is an intelligent and funny novel about a somewhat dysfunctional, yet loving family in the 60s. Part a family story, part a coming of age story, the book grabs the reader’s attention on almost every page. The strength of the novel is on its use of dialogue, the author manages to capture the style of the Bronx and the rhythm of the language with a few Yiddish words to spice it all up. The author manages to capture the sounds of the streets and families in a very human sense. I admired the way Mr. Goldstein encapsulated how kids talk differently on the street than they do at home. Ricky becomes a man during these turbulent times. He learns his limitations but also what can…

Article first published as Book Review: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spain by Helen Gordon Heightsman on Blogcritics. About: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spainby Helen Heightsman Gordon is a historical fiction novel taking place in South America during Hernán Cortés’ time. Malinalli was an important person in Cortés’ entourage who have been vilified throughout the ages. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 672 pages Publisher: iUniverse (December 16, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 1462064930 My rating for Malinalli of the Fifth Sun – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format. More Books by Helen Gordon Heightsman Thoughts: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spain by Helen Heightsman Gordon (blog | Facebook) aims to tell a story in history which many people are not aware of. Malinalli was a real person in Mexican history , known by several different names, who is often overlooked or vilified. The story is told through various view points, Cortés, Malinalli’s family, and acquaintances but mainly…