As we move away from the Autumn Equinox toward the Winter Solstice, what better time to discover some new books?
First, if you’re a romance fan, don’t forget that you can listen to Charisse Howard’s spicy Regency Rakes & Rebels novellas, narrated by the wonderfully British actress Stevie Zimmerman. From an English manor house (Lady Annabelle’s Abduction) to a new-world pirates’ Mardi Gras (Lady Barbara & the Buccaneer) to the Barbary Coast (Lady Caroline, the Corsair’s Captive), these Regency adventures will make your pulse race and your heart throb!
Among the highlights of the recent Boston Book Festival was a fascinating nonfiction panel called Start Making Sense: Solutions to Intractable Problems:
Why can’t we just cut through the partisan bull***t and apply a little common sense to our country’s problems?
James M. Stone, in Five Easy Theses: Commonsense Solutions to America’s Greatest Economic Challenges, proposes solutions to issues like the affordability of healthcare and widening income inequality.
Philip K. Howard, in The Rule of Nobody: Saving America from Dead Laws and Broken Government, faults a governing system that has replaced leadership with overly specific rules and regulations that are followed mindlessly by bureaucrats.
MIT’s Zeynep Ton takes on the practice of companies investing too little in their employees in pursuit of profits in The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits.
If you’re in the mood for a mystery, be sure to stop by Books Inc. at 2251 Chestnut Street from noon to 2 PM on Saturday, Nov. 5. Here in San Francisco’s Marina District, eleven authors from Sisters In Crime will read from and sign their new books. From Mary Feliz’s Address to Die For to our own C J Verburg’s Zapped, 
you’ll find thrills, suspense, and adventure guaranteed to fill more hours with more fun for less cost than anything you can buy at the neighboring bistros or Apple Store. Meet and mingle with Northern California authors, enjoy refreshments, and you might even wrap up your holiday shopping in one afternoon.
Happy reading!
