Books

A story told at breakneck speed: Athletic little girls start playing tennis at four, compete at seven, and make career decisions before they’re old enough to drive. But there are no guarantees – only the wild temptations of money and fame in a professional sport that didn’t exist when the girls in this book were born.

At courtside, in motel rooms around the country, at agonizing family councils back home, Karen Stabiner accompanies top-ranked young players as they get ready to turn pro.

“Provide(s) matchlessly reported inside detail on the exploitive nature of the show-biz sport at its entry level.”

– Kirkus Reviews

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Courting-Fame-Perilous-Womens-Stardom/dp/0060155272

In a business where crashing two brand new Nissan sports cars is all in a day's work, the ad agency Chiat/Day produced groundbreaking ads for a quarter of a century, including the futuristic “1984” commercial for Apple Computer and the Energizer Bunny campaign.

Inventing Desire is the firsthand account of a maverick agency trying to keep its edge – and of its owner, who had to decide whether he preferred to be immortal or irreplaceable.

“An unusual, highly stimulating book. . . a fly-on-the wall’s view of a once-hot company at a precarious moment in its history. . .an absorbing account of the agency’s attempt to answer the perennial: ‘How big can we get before we get bad?’”

– The Wall Street Journal

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Desire-Hottest-Business-Advertising/dp/0671723464

The product of over three years of in-depth reporting, To Dance with the Devil is at once an unprecedented behind-the-scenes account and a gripping human drama.

At the center of the story, the eminent breast surgeon and author Dr. Susan Love, her patients, and colleagues at the innovative UCLA Breast Center. From there, the narrative spirals out to examine partisan politics and budget crises; pioneering research and experimental treatments; managed care and the battle to shape its future; high stakes, high society fund-raising; and the brutally competitive race for answers and dollars.

"To Dance with the Devil is a stunning piece of work: an absolutely lucid, entirely absorbing, and meticulously reported exploration of culture and politics at the cutting edge of medicine."

– Joan Didion

[Award] A New York Times Notable Book.

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Devil-New-Breast-Cancer/dp/0385312849

In 1972, with limited funds and a modest culinary background, Piero Selvaggio opened a small Italian restaurant in a decidedly unglamorous Santa Monica neighborhood. Forty-five years later, Selvaggio continued to welcome guests to what had become a culinary landmark. The Valentino Cookbook draws on Selvaggio's extensive experience as a restaurateur, and, most of all, a lover of food and wine.

“This book makes me fall in love with Italian food all over again.”

– Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse restaurant and founder of The Edible Schoolyard Project.

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Valentino-Cookbook-Piero-Selvaggio/dp/0679452427

Proponents of single-sex education warn that falling test scores, faltering self-image, math anxiety, and outright discrimination await girls in coed classrooms. Critics counter with tales of single-minded academic competition, and an overly protective environment that leaves girls ill-prepared for college.

All Girls is the story of pivotal years at the 112-year-old Marlborough School, an elite prep school in Los Angeles, and The Young Women’s Leadership School in East Harlem, an experiment within the New York City public school system, designed to give economically disadvantaged girls a better chance.

“Parents committed to bright futures for their daughters, girls who never seriously considered single-sex schools, and public school teachers who mistakenly believe that most girls are doing “just fine” in coeducational classrooms, owe it to themselves to read this powerful book.”

– David Sadker, Ph.D., professor, American University, co-author of Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/All-Girls-Single-Sex-Education-Matters/dp/1573222070

Here’s a radical concept: Most girls are happy. The woeful ones we always read about are a noisy minority, according to what Publisher’s Weekly calls a “charming memoir” about life with a pre-teen daughter. With warmth, humor, and sharp insight, My Girl debunks the prevailing assumption that a girl's adolescence is bound to be miserable.

“Exactly the book we need. . . . crackerjack timing, and not just for the funny stuff, but for that single sentence that pierces the heart in ways that are unexpected, poignant, ironic, and wise.”

– Peggy Orenstein, author of Schoolgirls

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/My-Girl-Adventures-Teen-Training-ebook/dp/B000SHO1SC

Children grow up and leave home -- but it isn't easy just because it's inevitable, as 31 parents, from nuclear family couples to godparents, attest in this vivid essay collection. Funny, heartbreaking, hopeful, sad, often in the space of a single moment, The Empty Nest is a bracing look at how we handle the only relationship that's designed to end with a break-up.

“A survival guide – or commiseration guide – for parents whose kids are leaving home. . . .highly readable and engaging essays”

– The Washington Post

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Nest-Parents-Relationships-Freedom/dp/1401340776/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.fk5zNwFz5N2noiYcnOy3V5ygt2XNYEiOyQv8LVajaTGGnMjFu6WKY4tB0yq1QHCjkgwLoflmQXh9m1QtYw0MeS_dOfMl-_Yf4licDqBUr3LA8KMKH-sw2OGyrjhUHOvsOJI2tqC1WPWyEeurmLMXyLSumC2OS-0qbFZfZBC8poVumjIXjFTlBfHDsvu_maXofbBO4gWU_MuXH4sBATIKmXl3baftawBQmMg3RNdTA4w.3ie9u2PTTqkoHFM4LnU4tP6Pp8kR3IWKWn_bjqAkPRU&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Empty+Nest%3A+31+parents+tell+the+truth+about+relationships%2C+love%2C+and+freedom+after+the+kids+fly+the+coop&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1780343159&sr=8-1

The story of five Los Angeles high school seniors and their parents as they navigate college admissions, told with a survivor's wit and a journalist's eye. Getting In follows three families at the tony Crestview School and two at its public counterpart, Ocean Heights High, in their pursuit of a fat envelope from their favorite schools — as each family’s best-laid plans start to crumble and they scramble for a Plan B.

“A savvy insider’s take on a high-stakes, cutthroat campaign - except it’s not about getting into the White House, but about getting into the perfect college. Stabiner’s sharp, witty tale is as essential as a good SAT prep course – but a hell of a lot more fun.”
– Arianna Huffington

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Novel-Karen-Stabiner/dp/1401322468?crid=Z9RD2NQAK6V6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LgrJcr4_lyZGXryTd9Y0ly_IzctyeaPyektRigvlOR8F3nMd5TTatePI1FGkEyvbyCbN5KxZEPdJ_i9KTGHB89Wvsb1eQVRRtVj6A6VPLZWNPAPsDUo5ZMEB0AUuA1RQVLE_VDTNsIT4jMC8I0SsebLtoPGRJKKK3pUi0rDBsmo45eH1NHUbJyw7aJMBofcKdqcdxLBCLlaDkiRHZAiU1zB2qbOjnjzbl_4S0wyD0c4.x_1lHTsmEheuluZWppEhlBF-2ZRL62CHwklV2fggOCM&dib_tag=se&keywords=Getting+In%3A+a+novel&qid=1780343355&s=books&sprefix=the+empty+nest+31+parents+tell+the+truth+about+relationships%2C+love%2C+and+freedom+after+the+kids+fly+the+coop%2Cstripbooks%2C326&sr=1-1

Danny Meyer’s restaurants are among the most acclaimed in the nation. Family Table goes backstage, into their kitchens, to share over 150 recipes that staff members make for each other before service begins, alongside stories of the restaurants’ unsung heroes.

A collection of the best restaurant meals you’ll never see on a menu.

“The stories and recipes encapsulate the passion that chefs should show while preparing their ‘family’s’ meals.”

– Daniel Boulud

[Award] A Top Ten cookbook — Publishers Weekly

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Family-Table-Favorite-Staff-Restaurants/dp/0547615620?crid=13NWSAETA2Q44&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PKOYBBvS_-1urSnn6YU56xXX3C6nOUhBXKfcR4Us7m6Fb8L2reHgZc5ggngxc6MTZ2AGbZP5bRsHxKP7JaGJo6VwvNyxcByOmM0Wit_Q9RLRpxoLpXFMncdYGps7GGUla3KDHYQHdqH4rDFSLNeAMx6ZuR6FfEIdn_blAwFv2YtOCPyjmJGX4daNCmeFc5H07TLfkCFAppRo7AuUCGjFhS28OHniesvrDa8BrOTjb48.mgleOecDgyyWzTIGNy_zRUiKaX_SWda_vcKUuCLCeOc&dib_tag=se&keywords=Family+Table%3A+Favorite+staff+meals+from+our+restaurants+to+your+home&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1780343480&s=books&sprefix=family+table+favorite+staff+meals+from+our+restaurants+to+your+home%2Cstripbooks%2C110&sr=1-1

Chef Jonah Miller was 24 and in a hurry, so he quit his sous chef job and opened his own restaurant, Huertas, in New York City’s East Village. Generation Chef is the story of that dream come true – and about the high-stakes, high-speed world of the restaurant chef.

“Stabiner has done more than tell the riveting story of one young chef on the cusp of stardom; she’s plunged us right into the bubbling epicenter of a culinary moment like no other. Witty and well-observed, Generation Chef isn’t just a book for New Yorkers or for the food-obsessed; it’s for anyone anywhere who loves a great read.”

– Tom Colicchio

[Award] A Bon Appetit best food book.

[Award] A Tasting Table best food book.

[Order] https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Chef-Risking-American-Dream/dp/1583335803