A Great Big Hello from Roberta Isleib!

ROBERTA:  Hurray for Karin Gillespie and this brand new Girlfriends Book blog! I'm so excited to be a part of a grand and ongoing celebration of women's fiction.

I write murder mysteries--and that started because (cross my heart) I was playing so much bad golf that I had to figure out how to make something of it! So five of my books feature neurotic but lovable professional golfer, Cassie Burdette. In real life, I'm a clinical psychologist so my next series stars psychologist, advice columnist, and amateur detective Dr. Rebecca Butterman (DEADLY ADVICE, ASKING FOR MURDER). She's also a fabulous cook--which is great fun to write! I had some exciting news recently--my short story, "The Itinerary", was chosen to be included in the next Mystery Writers of America anthology, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. The collection will be edited by none other than Nelson DeMille! Meanwhile, my agent has two books she's trying to sell, and I'm working on another.

Enough of all that. Besides writing, I love, love, love to read. Last year I chaired the Mystery Writers of America committee that chose the best crime novel of 2009, so I've been resting a little from reading mysteries, instead concentrating on women's fiction. Here are a few books that I've read and enjoyed this summer.

THE RED THREAD by Ann Hood. From the jacket: "After losing her infant daughter in a freak accident, Maya Lange opens the Red Thread, an adoption agency that specializes in placing baby girls from China with American families." The book takes us through the stories of six couples who are waiting to adopt through Maya's agency. As the adoption date draws near, the lives of these people begin to unravel and Maya is forced to face her own tragic history with her daughter and her husband. Ann Hood is an expert about getting into the minds of her characters so they come alive on the page.

RED HOOK ROAD by Ayelet Waldman.  Two families in Red Hook, Maine are joined by a marriage and then shattered by a tragedy almost as quickly. As their grief unfolds, the tension between the families does too, bringing cracks to light that were not visible before the wedding. Waldman started her writing career with a mystery series, the Mommy Track mysteries--her books have only gotten better and better.

THE STUFF THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Maddie Dawson. Dawson is Sandi Kahn Shelton's new identity. I've loved her other novels, which are set in my neck of the woods in Connecticut. STUFF wanders through the long marriage of Annabelle McKay, from its unusual beginning to its major hiccups to the warm and wonderful ending. The book asks the question: "What if you were married to a wonderful husband for twenty-eight year but in love with another man?" An excellent read.

And my last recommendation, SPOON FED by Kim Severson, is not fiction at all. But if you follow the food articles in the New York Times, you'll have seen Severson's byline. In this appealing book she profiles seven cooks who've had a big influence on her career and her life. You'll get her inside scoop on Alice Waters, Rachel Ray, and others, and you'll be drooling by the time you finish. I interviewed Kim on my group blog, Jungle Red Writers, so go over and check that out when you're finished.

Okay, that should keep you busy for a few days anyway! And you can find me on Facebook, my website, or Jungle Red writers. And can't wait to hear what my other girlfriends have to say....