Tag Archives: Books

My Israel and Me by Alice McGinty

Coming this fall:
Kalaniot Books will be publishing My Israel and Me by Alice McGinty and illustrated by Rotem Teplow (9/21/2021; ISBN: 978-1-7350875-3-5; Hardcover $19.99; Ages 4-11; 32 pages). In recent history, Israel’s role in the world’s consciousness has been one of conflict, but over the centuries, millions of people have also traced their history, culture, and religion back to this tiny desert land. The result is a country with an incredible variety of peoples and traditions, and a diaspora that still feels connected to that homeland, thinking of it as “My Israel.”

Told in verse, the book introduces readers to the diversity of Israel’s people from a child’s perspective. Explanatory text sheds light on the varied cultures and traditions that inspire the special connection many feel with “their Israel.” Though coincidental, this book has arrived at a critical time and Kalaniot Books hopes it proves useful to parents and educators in starting thoughtful conversations and sharing their own insights about the complicated feelings surrounding modern day Israel.

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OF WOMEN AND SALT by Gabriela Garcia -book club event

OF WOMEN AND SALT is the sweeping, masterful debut by Gabriela Garcia — about a daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born.

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals — personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others — that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women.

A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

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THE BREAK-UP BOOK CLUB

On paper, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara have little in common – they’re very different people leading very different lives. And yet at book club meetings in an historic carriage house turned bookstore, they bond over a shared love of reading (and more than a little wine) as well as the growing realization that their lives are not turning out like they expected.

Former tennis star Jazmine is a top sports agent balancing a career and single motherhood. Judith is an empty nester questioning her marriage and the supporting role she chose. Erin’s high school sweetheart and fiancé develops a bad case of cold feet, and Sara’s husband takes a job out of town saddling Sara with a difficult mother-in-law who believes her son could have done better – not exactly the roommate most women dream of.

With the help of books, laughter, and the joy of ever evolving friendships, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara find the courage to navigate new and surprising chapters of their lives as they seek their own versions of happily-ever-after.

Wendy Wax, a former broadcaster, is the author of sixteen novels and two novellas, including My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding, Best Beach Ever, One Good Thing, Sunshine Beach, A Week at the Lake, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, The House on Mermaid Point, Ocean Beach, and Ten Beach Road. The mother of two grown sons, she has left the suburbs of Atlanta for an in-town high-rise, that is eerily similar to the fictional high-rise she created in her 2013 release, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey.

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Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny, by Sadhguru

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru, unravels the existential mechanism of karma. The popular misinterpretation of karma as a reward and punishment system leaves most people in despair as if nothing is truly in their control. Karma is a profound tell-all book on the word for the modern era and the most empowering tool for human wellbeing.

“People in civilized society carry a great deal of unexpressed emotion within. Now, if emotions never find full expression, the energy can turn around and become deeply damaging to one’s health and well-being. This accounts for the upswing of depression and mental illness across the world.” – Excerpt from Page – 84

“After years of polluting our planet and refusing to change lifestyles, is it any wonder that so many other diseases are rampant in our world today? Are we not collectively responsible for these?” – Excerpt from Page – 47

“Education, parentage, and pedigree were socially significant, but never existentially significant. What was valued was this profound innate intelligence – a capacity to perceive existence as is, rather than as we think it is or should be.” – Excerpt Pg 95

Reviews for the Karma book:

“Karma brings me to a place of peace within myself.”- Rosanna Arquette

“Karma is a thoughtful and life-affirming reminder of our vast capacity to effect positive change in our own life and in the life of others. A must-read for anyone feeling stuck and hopeless.”- Tony Robbins

“Full of valuable insights to guide you to live a life of fulfillment.”-Will Smith

“The key to unlocking your truth… to connect with your inner wisdom.” -HRH Princess Noor Bint Asem of Jordan

“At last a book about karma that can be trusted. I never found a book that explains and solves the mystery of karma with clarity and hopefulness of this book.” -Deepak Chopra

“This book will put you back in charge of your own life.”- Tom Brady

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The iPhone Photography Book by Scott Kelby

You already know that the iPhone can take great photos, but if you’re ready to take your iPhone photos to the next level, here are five tips from Scott Kelby’s new book, The iPhone Photography Book, that can make a big difference (and help you get the best shots you’ve ever taken with your iPhone).

1. Super-Quick Lighting Fix
Getting your tone right—where your photo isn’t too dark or too bright—is a big thing when it comes to getting great photos with your iPhone, and it’s actually really easy to do (once you know the secret). After you tap once on the screen (right on what you want to be in focus), you can make the image brighter by holding your finger on the screen and dragging it up to make it brighter, or it down to make it darker. This makes a bigger difference than you’d think.
Lighting Fix

2. Making Your Photo Fill the Screen
Have you noticed that when you take a photo with the iPhone’s camera it doesn’t capture the entire screen? It leaves blank areas at the top and bottom (if you’re shooting vertically) or on the left and right (if you’re shooting horizontally). If you want an image that fills the entire screen, there’s a trick for that: switch your Camera app to shoot in Video mode. You’ll notice two things: (1) the video fills the entire screen, and (2) once you hit the red record button, there’s now a little white shutter button that appears onscreen. When you tap that white shutter button, it takes a still photo, and like the video, it fills the entire screen. When you shoot video, by default, it zooms in closer than the regular camera does, so your still image will be zoomed in a bit closer as well. But, it’s better than just cropping a still image because cropping your still image would make it smaller, and it wouldn’t fill the screen like this video trick does, so it’s definitely worth trying. I know a number of iPhone photography pros who only shoot in Video mode for that very reason.
Fill Screen

3. An Easier Way to Take Your Shot
Besides just tapping the round shutter button onscreen, there is another way, perhaps even a handier way, in many cases, to take a photo. This very popular way is to use the actual volume up or volume down buttons on the outside of your iPhone. When you have the Camera app open, and you press either the volume up or down button (as seen here), it takes a picture. It’s super-convenient, and my guess is once you try it, you’ll fall in love with doing it like this.

Easier Way

Woman hand holding the black new smartphone with blank screen isolated white background. hands using phone clipping path

4. Killer Tip to Keep from Missing the Moment
If you see something cool that you want to take a photo of, and time is of the essence (you need to get to your camera quickly), don’t unlock your iPhone and launch the Camera app and all that (you’ll have already missed the shot!). Instead, just pick up your iPhone and swipe left on the screen. That takes you directly to the Camera app and you’re ready to shoot. You don’t have to unlock the iPhone or anything—it’s just ready to go. This is ideal for times when your friend leaves their locked iPhone on the table at a restaurant and goes to the restroom for a moment. I’m not suggesting you pick up their iPhone, swipe to the left, and start taking random pictures and selfies before placing it right back into the same spot where they left it, so the next time they go to their Photos app they see all these odd pictures, and then finally a selfie of you, but…I’ve heard of people who have done things like this. Not me, mind you. Other people. I’m sure.
Missing Moment

5. Want a Better Portrait? Cut Off Their Head. Well…at Least Part of It
Cutting off the tops of people’s heads in portraits is a super-popular look these days, as long as you cut off enough so that it doesn’t look like a mistake. It should look like you did it intentionally, otherwise you’ll hear people say, “Oh, that’s such a nice shot of him. Too bad you cut off the top of his head.” It has to be at least 1/3 of their hair or head to where it looks so intentional that nobody questions it. This brings your subject closer to the person viewing the shot, it makes the shot more intimate, and it gives it a more professional look (you’ll see this “cropping off the top of the head” look in ads on the web, in magazines, in product photography— it’s pretty much everywhere).
Cut Off

Excerpted from The iPhone Photography Book by Scott Kelby (Rocky Nook). Copyright © 2021 Scott Kelby. Reprinted with permission from Rocky Nook. San Rafael, CA. All rights reserved.

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Get Sexy! The Boudoir Posing Deck

Get ready to strike a sexy pose, thanks to the professional guidance of noted fashion photographer Lindsay Alder.

Introducing The Boudoir Posing Deck: 50 Poses for Photographers and Models [978-1-68198-7-057; $30; January 2021] by Lindsay Adler, a new full-color deck featuring 50 high-quality posing examples to help guide and inspire photographers and models to create the perfect boudoir session.

Based in New York City, author Lindsay Adler is a portrait and fashion photographer, Canon Explorer of Light, and one of Instagram’s top photography influencers (@lindsayadler_photo, 357K followers). In her latest project, she shares clear instructions and helpful tips with every boudoir pose featuring the same model throughout the deck. Each 4×6 card features an image and accompanying description of the pose, the camera settings, and lighting information.

Perfect as a gift for photographers, aspiring models, or any woman who wants to feel sexy, The Boudoir Posing Deck includes a wide range of alluring sitting, standing, and laying scenarios that will inspire gorgeous, flattering photos to post online, keep for yourself, or to share with that special someone.

For more information click here

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Circus Harmony Interactive Cookbook

Circus Harmony is taking it into the kitchen! The flying children of Circus Harmony are combining the daring with the delicious to create a digital cookbook and videos that will feature over 40 favorite family recipes from breakfast to desserts for all tastes and diets! Each delicious dish accompanied by some flipping, flying, and flinging! Each delicious dish will be paired with an exciting circus act.

This is our most appetizing and amusing show ever! This Circus Harmony Cookbook & Show is due to be released on this page, on March 16, 2021, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the St. Louis lockdown.

Motivation is hard in the middle of a pandemic. When we asked our students what motivated them, there was a unanimous agreement that food is a great motivator. Also, during the pandemic, all our families have been cooking more. Thus the Circus Harmony Interactive Cookbook was born. The Circus Harmony Interactive Cookbook will be a digital book where you can actually turn the pages and, on each page, will be a recipe and an accompanying video. What dish pairs best with contortion, with juggling, or with trapeze? What is the famous shrimp stir fry recipe and who will be the shrimp? Can a taco ride a unicycle?

To sponsor this creative, culinary endeavor or for more information contact the head chef of Circus Harmony, Jessica Hentoff at 314-226-3633 or circusday@circusharmony.org.

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New Releases in Children’s Books

In Mona Lisa in New York by Yevgenia Nayberg (3/9/21; ISBN: 978-3791374451; Hardcover $14.95; Ages 4-8; 32 pages), a love letter to New York City, Mona Lisa is a tourist who experiences the city for the first time, and finds art, love, and inspiration in unexpected places.

Mona Lisa is taking a trip to New York from the Louvre. Yes, that Mona Lisa. The one with the knowing smile. After hanging in the museum for a while she decides to explore the city. She slips out of her painting and meets Tag, a street art figure. He takes her on an adventure from the Bronx to the Brooklyn Bridge and it turns out Mona Lisa doesn’t know as much as she thought. In this beautiful and charming book, artist Yevgenia Nayberg, an immigrant to New York herself, shows young readers the city she has fallen in love with. Cleverly portraying da Vinci’s iconic subject as a world-weary, know-it-all, Nayberg takes readers on a tour of New York. Mona Lisa and Tag eat pizza in the Bronx, listen to jazz in Harlem, dance to salsa music on the High Line, and swim at Brighton Beach. As Mona Lisa says goodbye to her new friend, she–and the readers–come away with a profound appreciation of the city and its wonders.

Spend hours navigating the world’s great rivers with Great Rivers of the World by Volker Mehnert and illustrated by Martin Haake (3/23/21; ISBN: 978-3791374703; Hardcover $19.95; Ages 8-12; 40 pages), a vibrant, fact-filled book for kids that blends geography, history, and culture.

Where in the Rhein does the Nibelung Treasure lie? What river helps mark the prime meridian? Why do people make pilgrimages to the Indian city of Benares? Why is the Mekong called the “Nine Dragon” river in Vietnam? How does the Mississippi divide and unite the United States? These and hundreds of other facts are explored in this wonderfully illustrated atlas of the world’s great rivers. Each spread in this book offers a colorful map packed with drawings, figures, and facts. Cities that border the rivers are highlighted, as are distinct flora and fauna, significant natural and human-made features, and fascinating historical details. A “biography” of each river describes where it flows, and its importance to the communities it passes through. Special attention is given to the ecological health of the rivers–those that are thriving and those in danger of losing their valuable habitats. Along the way, young readers will come to understand the enormous impact that rivers have on our lives, while learning valuable information in a way that will spark their curiosity and imagination.

Join scientists on an unforgettable journey to Antarctica in illustrated children’s book Antarctica: A Continent of Wonder by Mario Cuesta Hernando and illustrated by Raquel Martín (4/20/21; ISBN: 978-3791374567; Hardcover $19.95; Ages 5-8; 48 pages).

Come aboard the Polar Star and accompany its crew on their half-year stay in Antarctica. Through full-page illustrations, children will experience the work and life of these explorers and scientists as they study penguins, whales, and seals, measure the depth of the ice, chart wind speeds of up to 186 mph (300km/h), examine old volcanoes, and withstand some of the lowest temperatures ever recorded. Kids will also learn about Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, the legendary explorers who first set foot on Antarctica. Equal parts thrilling adventure and in-depth exploration, this book is an unforgettable illustrated expedition to Antarctica that is sure to satisfy the boldest bedtime traveler.

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Bored Games

We’re now just shy of a year into the pandemic and I’m not sure there’s anyone out there who hasn’t gone at least a little stir-crazy. This is just one of the reasons I was excited to see the book BORED GAMES on our spring list! The 100+ games in this book are perfect to play with spouses, kids, siblings, roommates, close friends or anyone you’re comfortable competing against. They’ll help take you out of your own head and connect with your household for a fun night in. They can be modified to play on your favorite video conferencing platform – bye bye awkward zoom and hello intergenerational family laugh-fest with a 1920s dance-off, or get all the juicy gossip with an online never-would-i-ever with your friends (and lots of wine!).

The games in this book come in all varieties; some require a few household items to play with, many require nothing but imagination and a competitive spirit. There are art & creativity games (Mad Lib Story, Mug Shots); competition games (Apple on a String, Name the Celebrity); decade party games (Pin the Mullet on the Dude, Dress-and-Dash Relay); dinner party games (All Thumbs, Musical Teacups); group games (Improv in a Bag, Prediction Bingo); minute-to-win games (Leap Spoon, Tabletop Pyramid); summer games (Carrot Toss, Puff Ball Fight); scavenger hunt games; and truth-or-dare games.

We could all use one more tool in our arsenal when it comes to combatting quarantine fatigue, so why not give BORED GAMES a try?

For more information click here

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Message in a Shell, by Ghazi Kaddouh

“Message in a Shell” by Ghazi Kaddouh is a compelling thriller novel that follows Sami Badroni, a friend and smuggling partner for a high-ranking Palestine Liberation Organization official in Beirut, during the civil war in Lebanon. After saving a woman from the grasps of his friend’s number one competitor named Murad, Sami finds himself with a huge target on his back. Murad and his team implicate him for the murder of two Mossad agents. Sami must clear his name and finds himself fleeing his homeland. During all of this, Sami falls in love with a woman named Lena. He later finds out that she was hired by Murad’s associates as a spy. Sami finds himself both betrayed and heartbroken by the actions of Lena; however, in the end, she secretly is the force that helps him flee the claws of Murad and is the mother of his child. Inspired by real-life events that the author has witnessed, this novel illustrates the death, destruction and divide caused by the war.

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Your Personal Guidance System, by Joan Spencer

“Your Personal Guidance System: Unlock the Door to the Universe and Experience the Magic” by Joan Spencer is an enlightening guidebook designed to help readers discover their deeper purpose and the incredible beauty of life. Spencer describes a human’s ‘personal guidance system’ and identifies elements of the human experience that serve as the guidance system’s messages, including feelings, conversations, passages in books and dreams. The author includes anecdotes that display personal examples of how her guidance system has led her in life (such as her move to Arizona and the miracles that followed her after the move) and introspective questions, so readers can begin to think about how their guidance system may have tried to lead them in their own lives. Spencer also provides methods and techniques for readers to build a deeper connection with their guidance system, including developing vision boards and learning to listen to opportunities that present themselves from the universe. Overall, this book is designed to encourage readers to listen to their souls’ wishes and find their true destinies on Earth.

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Burning Desire, by M.L. Stark

Author M. L. Stark, through a fictionalized account of her personal life, tells her story of abuse while dating a psychopathic man in “Burning Desire: The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes Part I.” This book is the first in an adult fiction series that raises awareness of the intense, destructive nature of a relationship with a psychopathic man.
“Burning Desire” follows the main charter, Mary, and her toxic relationship with a man named Drake. Mary, who was in an unfulfilling marriage with an unfaithful man, fell prey to the allure of Drake, who was her doctor. Utilizing his role as Mary’s doctor to his own perverse advantage, Drake made his way into Mary’s psyche and wielded power and fear to attract her. This novel showcases how Drake, a psychopathic man, manipulates Mary for money and to maintain a sense of power over a vulnerable human being.
Stark wishes to share tell-tale signs of a toxic relationship so that women can learn to identify psychopathic and manipulative behavior and take the necessary precautions during courtship to protect themselves. This book can also help male readers, who are in relationships with women who have dated a psychopathic man, understand their partner and treat them with the love, respect and patience that they need. With “Burning Desire,” Stark hopes to reach both women and men who are navigating romantic relationships and encourage them to find healthy, supportive relationships with one another.

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