Susan Shapiro Barash

Jennifer Belle Talks New Hilarious and Wildly Shocking Coming-of-Age, “Swanna in Love”

How could one resist a novel called Swanna In Love? As with Jennifer Belle’s previous books, Going Down, High Maintenance, Little Stalker and The Seven Year Bitch, her wit and unforgettable voice hook the reader at once. We are swept into fourteen-year-old Swanna Swain’s first-person narration in this latest tale.…

Susan Shapiro BarashApril 17, 2024

Nonfiction

Charles Busch’s Memoir Recounts His Life as Playwright, Actor and Drag Legend

Since Charles Busch is witty, distinctive and unforgettable – as a writer, actor, impresario and in drag –reading his new book, Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy, is a form of being inner sanctum. Full disclosure, while I’ve always been a fan and gone to anything written…

Susan Shapiro BarashOctober 3, 2023

Author Spotlight Fiction

Modern Love Story About Death, Ghosts and the Love That Never Dies

Twelve Months and A Day (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) is a riveting story of love lost and second chances. In Louisa Young’s carefully crafted supernatural novel, two peoples lives are upended by their partners’ untimely deaths. For both Roisin, whose fiancé Nico’s sudden death is shocking, and for Rasmus, whose young…

Susan Shapiro BarashFebruary 16, 2023

Fiction Fiction - Featured

A Moving Story of Marriage, In-Laws and Family, Starring Three Generations of Women

Before we even begin Sally Koslow's latest novel, The Real Mrs. Tobias (Harper), there is a pause to appreciate the title. Next you turn the first pages, at once lured into an unforgettable tale written in snappy prose with lots of humor. In a mother-in-law triangle, we meet Veronika, the…

Susan Shapiro BarashSeptember 14, 2022

Author Spotlight Fiction Fiction - Featured

See a Hometown Through the Eyes of One Who Calls it Home in “Save the Village”

Save the Village, Michele Herman’s novel, is a love letter to Greenwich Village and those who live there. Her descriptions of both place and mood are so visceral that one swears she’s actually walking along the cobblestone, admiring the red brick buildings. We understand from the start that living in…

Susan Shapiro BarashMay 13, 2022

Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

2020 in Hindsight: “A Diary of the Plague Year” Immortalizes a Year of Headlines

From the moment I opened the first pages of Elise Engler’s book, A Diary of the Plague Year (Metropolitan Books), I knew I was witnessing something very important in terms of chronicling our history. Both her artwork and her use of language offer testimony to the extraordinary events of 2020. Her…

Susan Shapiro BarashMarch 10, 2022

Author Spotlight Fiction Thrillers Thrillers - Featured

New Murder Mystery by Rick Bleiweiss is Unforgettable: He’s Telling Us Some Reasons Why

One of Publisher's Weekly's "Best New Debut Mystery Novels" An Amazon Editors’ Pick for “Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense” Pignon Scorbion & The Barbershop Detectives (Blackstone Publishing), Rick Bleiweiss’ new murder mystery, is a whodunit with an unforgettable Police Chief Inspector Pignon Scorbion at its center. In a style reminiscent…

Susan Shapiro BarashFebruary 18, 2022

Author Spotlight Fiction Thrillers Thrillers - Featured

Celebrity Inmate Rocks Status Quo of Otisville, America’s Only Jewish Prison

The Prison Minyan (Lightning Books), Jonathan Stone’s latest work of fiction, is a sage, droll novel that keeps the reader glued until the final pages. The book takes place at Otisville, the only Jewish correctional facility in the United States. His depiction of the prisoners — those incarcerated for various…

Susan Shapiro BarashJanuary 13, 2022

Business Business - Featured Nonfiction

Former PepsiCo CEO Enlightens and Inspires Women in the Workforce

What fascinates us from the start of Indra Nooyi’s memoir, My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future (Portfolio), is the trajectory of her life. Many of us know her as the former CEO and chairperson of PepsiCo and the first woman of color to lead a Fortune 500…

Susan Shapiro BarashOctober 20, 2021

Fiction

Jamie Brenner’s “Blush” Gives Three Women Bonded by Family the Chance for Beautiful Boldness

Review and Q&A with Susan Shapiro Barash aka Susannah Marren, author of A Palm Beach Scandal (St. Martin's Griffin) Three generations of women at a family vineyard on the North Fork of Long Island find their strength and determination put to the test in Jamie Brenner’s new novel, Blush (G.P.…

Susan Shapiro BarashJune 22, 2021

Author Spotlight Author Spotlight - Featured Fiction

S. Kirk Walsh on Her Debut Historical Novel of War, Loss and Animal Companionship

After reading S. Kirk Walsh’s piece that ran in the New York Times this past January, “How the Author of ‘Ragtime’ Taught an Aspiring Writer to Hear the Music,” I was eager to read her new novel, The Elephant of Belfast (Counterpoint). Having also studied with E.L. Doctorow at NYU…

Susan Shapiro BarashApril 5, 2021

Better Self

“The End of Migraines” Author Alexander Mauskop Has Some Helpful Hints

The End of Migraines: 150 Ways to Stop Your Pain by Dr. Alexander Mauskop offers an incisive, cutting-edge approach to migraine treatment. It is well researched, informative and hopeful, providing ingredients that migraine sufferers truly need and can benefit from. What resonates most for the reader is how practical a…

Susan Shapiro BarashFebruary 12, 2021

Fiction

“Jackie and Maria:” Two Unforgettable Women Beside Two of the World’s Wealthiest and Most Powerful Men

"Paul's pitch-perfect ear for dialogue, elegant prose, and sound plotting combine to create a sensational and spellbinding package." — Publishers Weekly "An addictive pleasure, offering readers a front-row seat to an infamous rivalry and the opportunity to hobnob vicariously with the rich and famous." — Library Journal For decades, intrigue…

Susan Shapiro BarashAugust 18, 2020

Author Spotlight

A Heated Sister Rivalry in “The Wedding Thief” by Mary Simses

“If you are attracted to the title, The Wedding Thief, you’ll absolutely love this book. Mary Simses is one of our best new storytellers.” — James Patterson Two sisters are in love with the same man. One is about to marry him; the other is about to sabotage the wedding.…

Susan Shapiro BarashJuly 7, 2020

Fiction

Explore the Realities of Success and Failure in “Want”

While we know that every decade endures significant cultural shifts and societal prescriptions, it is the plight of the eighties child that expectations do not always meet with reality. Such is the case for Elizabeth, the first person narrator of Lynn Steger Strong’s new novel, Want (Henry Holt). Elizabeth certainly…

Susan Shapiro BarashJuly 6, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

“All Adults Here:” A Rich Family Tale of Remembrance, Revision and New Chances

In a family saga about personal awakenings and shape shifting, it’s always best if one finds each character appealing. That surely is the case in Emma Straub’s new novel, All Adults Here (Riverhead Books). The multigenerational clan of Stricks is vivid, understandable and relatable. We know their angst, we understand…

Susan Shapiro BarashMay 6, 2020