Category Archives: Mimi

Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani (2003)

Most readers know Adriana Trigiani from her Big Stone Gap series, but she also writes great standalone novels. One of her most popular titles is Lucia, Lucia. In 1950s New York City, Lucia Sartori is a young apprentice to a new fashion designer. Lucia is engaged to be married, but her fiancé’s family doesn’t approve of her working. Forced to choose between marriage and career, she chooses her dream job. When a handsome stranger captures her heart, she believes in his dreams.

The world of the New York fashion scene is richly detailed. Readers who love stories about family, fashion, and New York will enjoy this book.

Slaying the Tiger: A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour by Shane Ryan (2015)

slayingthetigerReporter Shane Ryan spends one year on the PGA tour and reports on the new breed of up-and-coming golfers. Slaying the Tiger is eye opening to anyone interested in the game of golf. What you see on TV is now what the players are really like. Many players have public relations staff who control the player’s image.

More importantly—what does it take to be a winner? What games do players play and does the rich junior player have the advantage? A must read for anyone who likes the game of golf and wants to know who the next Tiger will be.

Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani (2003)

lucialuciaWhen Kit Anaetti, a budding playwright, is invited to tea by her elderly neighbor, she hears her neighbor’s life story. Lucia was a young girl living in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and working in a custom dress designer’s shop. After meeting her future in-laws, she suddenly calls off her engagement. Instead, she chooses her work and a dashing and exciting suitor. Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani is a tragic love story with vivid Italian characters.

The Litigators by John Grisham (2011)

This is John Grisham at his best doing what he does best – a courtroom drama. The setting is Chicago and the lawyers claim they have a boutique law firm. In reality, they are ambulance chasers. When they get a chance at a class action lawsuit, they are in hook, line, and sinker. Their newest partner is on a learning curve and wants nothing to do with corporate law.

If you want to really see what happens in a class action courtroom, The Litigators is the book for you. It also has lots of laughs. Movie rights have already been sold.

The Last Runaway Tracy Chevalier

Quaker Honor Bright leaves England after her fiancé breaks their engagement.  She travels to America with her sister to begin a new life.  The trip is horrendous, but what awaits her is unexpected.  Left to be cared for by strangers Honor must find her own way.

The Last Runaway  depicts life in 1850s Ohio.  The Friends do not support slavery and many become part of the Underground Railroad.  Honor Bright is in a strange country with strange ways.  She copes by writing letters home to her family in England and by trying to help runaways.  She is also torn between loved ones and doing what’s right.

New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel helps the reader understand the anti-slavery movement and the Quakers

Dancing in the Dark by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Dancing in the Dark by Stuart M. Kaminsky (1996)
Fred Astaire
hires private investigator Toby Peters to teach an ex-mobster’s girlfriend to dance. The problem is she wants only Fred Astaire as her instructor. When she is found dead, Fred and Toby search for her killer. The dead bodies pile up. Hollywood during the war years is the scene.

Read the New York Times obituary of this beloved mystery writer.

Threads by Joseph Abboud

Threads by Joseph Abboud (2004)
Abboud presents a fashion designer’s personal story of life in the rag trade. Abboud redefined menswear by bringing a European look to American clothing. Born in Boston, his desire for affluence was influenced by observing how others dressed. His rise in fashion was a rocky road, and in Threads he tells all.

Check out the author’s website as well as a preview of the book.

Margot Fonteyn by Meredith Daneman

Margot Fonteyn by Meredith Daneman (2004)
This biography provides an up-close look at England’s prima ballerina. Margot Fonteyn had it all: great fame, love, a career, and a long life. Daneman provides a behind-the-scenes look at what makes a prima ballerina and the toll it takes.

Check out reviews from The Guardian (UK) and The Daily Telegraph (UK), listen to a BBC interview with the author, and read Fonteyn’s 1991 obituary in the New York Times.