Monday, March 16, 2009




Breaking The Slump: How Great Players Survived Their Darkest Moments in Golf and What You Can Learn From Them
Jimmy Roberts // HarperCollins Publishers // 256pp



Award winning reporter, writer and NBC Golf Commentator Jimmy Roberts gathers advice on how to recover from playing the inevitable stretch of bad golf, sharing "slump stories" from the greatest players of past and present, and some prominent golf-addicted celebrities. For the first time ever is a book about the worst times in the careers of some of the most successful people-including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman-and how they dug themselves out. Every golfer should keep this book as a spiritual and emotional aid because every golfer, like it or not, will suffer a slump in their lifetime.




Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist
Michael J. Fox // Hyperion Books // 288pp





During his struggling (a.k.a adventures) with Parkinson’s disease, Michael J. Fox has been able to view the challenges before him as opportunities to grow, engage, and inspire. His discoveries have taken him on emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual journey. In his new book, the beloved actor writes about personal philosophy that has carried him through darkest hours, speaks with others who have emerged from difficult periods with optimism to spare, and then shares his incredible ability to see and appreciate the precious gifts of everyday life. With humor and wit that captivated readers, Michael describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.




A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table
Molly Wizenberg // Hyperion Books // 288pp






"Write what scares you." That's the kind of directive you'll get in creative writing classes. It's abundantly clear, as you parse the pages of Molly Wizenberg's beautiful new book "A Homemade Life," that she is writing something that scares her. The book seems light at first, a fizzy frolic with recipes and anecdotes and cute little pictures of flowers and fruit. But this book is indeed about something deeper and darker, something that only a brave writer could write. It is, in essence, the story of her relationship with her father--a lovable man she called Burg. The story starts with potato salad and ends, powerfully, with Burg's death from cancer.



Musical Theatre: A History
John Kenrick // Continuum International Publishing Group // 424pp






Like every art form, musical theatre has been changing and evolving since its inception more than 2000 years ago. Musical Theatre is a comprehensive history of stage musicals from the earliest accounts of ancient Greeks and Romans, for whom songs were common elements in staging. Musical theatre we know today first appeared in Paris during 1840s with Jacques Offenbach’s and eventually all the way up to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Broadway as we know today. The 21st century has also brought a popular new wave of musicals to Broadway stage.

John Kenrick covers it all, from the opening number to the curtain call, offering readers the most comprehensive, entertaining and up-to-date history of the art form.



The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City
David Lebovitz // Broadway // 304pp





If you think cooks aren’t usually such good writers—or funny, skeptical, and observant, surely you haven’t read any David Lebovitz’s book. He is greatest thing to happen to dessert since the spoon. Maybe you have heard some of his previous bestsellers, such as Ripe for Dessert, Room for Dessert, The Great Book of Chocolate and The Perfect Scoop.

This time he shows that beyond his artful nose and flawless taste, he also has a keen reporter’s eye. Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris. Finally, after a nearly two-decade career as a pastry chef and cookbook author, he moved to Paris to start a new life. He soon discovered it's a different world en France.

Here is David's story of how he came to fall in love with—and even understand—this glorious, yet sometimes maddening, city. The more than fifty original recipes, for dishes both savory and sweet will have you running to the kitchen once you stop laughing. The Sweet Life in Paris is a deliciously funny, offbeat, and irreverent look at the city of lights, cheese, chocolate, and other confections. If Paris intrigues, excites, or merely interests you, then you should read this book!