Announcing Wolf Hall on PBS & Huge Giveaway

I am so excited about this news and want to make sure that all of you know the details! Masterpiece on PBS will air a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel's WOLF HALL and its sequel, BRING UP THE BODIES. MASTERPIECE brings both works to life in Wolf Hall, airing on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10 p.m. ET on PBS.

I have been wanting to read both of these books for years, and this miniseries is finally giving me the push I needed. I actually started WOLF HALL today in preparation for the first show this Sunday evening. Make sure you set your DVRs now for Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on PBS!

Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn.

Check out www.pbs.org/wolfhall for more information.

To celebrate the new PBS series Wolf Hall, I have copies of the books that started it all for five lucky readers! To enter, just fill out the form below before Sunday, May 3rd at 11:59 p.m. I will randomly select and notify the winners the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. addresses only. Good luck!

Review: The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York

Summary: Visit Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna’s favorite haunts in The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York

More than just a travel guide, The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York delivers an in-depth look at Girls’ physical and cultural landscape.

• Stop in at Café Grumpy and learn how to make a French press coffee the way Ray and Hannah would 
• Go behind the scenes at Greenhouse, where Hannah and Elijah spend a night out, and meet “iPad DJs” AndrewAndrew 
• Recreate Jessa and Thomas-John’s Foundry wedding cake, with buttercream icing made from local NYC rooftop honey 
• Tour the Salmagundi Club, site of Hannah’s cringeworthy reading and one of the city’s oldest and most prestigious art and literary associations Shop Girls-style in the West Village, Nolita, and beyond
• Plus a lot more, from Greenpoint to Greenwich Village, and Bushwick warehouse parties to the Lower East Side gallery scene 

It’s the best way to visit Girls’ New York without paying for a plane ticket—or the perfect complement to your next trip.

Featuring 20 maps, 22 recipes, & more than 100 full-color photos -- Smart Pop

I hope I'm not too late with this post because THE UNOFFICIAL GIRLS GUIDE TO NEW YORK by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin is a great gift idea for fans of HBO's television series Girls. I consider myself a pretty big fan of the show over the past two seasons (especially Season 1), and I'm anxiously awaiting its return in January.

In the meantime, THE UNOFFICIAL GIRLS GUIDE TO NEW YORK has provided me with some fun entertainment. It is part travel guide because it features many of the familiar locations that Hannah and the girls visited in New York, but it's also a great way to reminisce about the show. Since I love visiting New York each year for BEA, THE UNOFFICIAL GIRLS GUIDE TO NEW YORK has given me a whole new world to explore in May!

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Not only does is explore many of the neighborhoods that appear in the show, but it also showcases many restaurants. For those of you are familiar with the series Girls, you know how much the setting plays a role in the stories. I appreciate that THE UNOFFICIAL GIRLS GUIDE TO NEW YORK provides even more details about these places and truly brings them to life for me.

You might remember this author pairing because they wrote a book called THE UNOFFICIAL MAD MEN COOKBOOK: INSIDE THE KITCHENS, BARS, AND RESTAURANTS OF MAD MEN which I reviewed here. They are, first and foremost, cookbook authors so they managed to include lots of recipes in this book too. There is even the recipe for Serendipity's Frrrozen Hot Chocolate which some might say alone is worth the price of the book!

Probably the most exciting thing to me (since I have little, if any, social life) is that one of the nightclubs I visited a few years ago appeared in the book. It's called The Greenhouse and was featured in Season 2 when Hannah visited it, high on cocaine! I didn't catch it when I saw the show, but I'm going to have to go back and watch it again!

To learn more about the book, check out the official website here.

Fans of Girls are going to love this book! Highly recommended!

Thanks to the author for providing a review copy of this book.

Giveaway: Cedar Cove Prize Pack

Summary:  Don’t miss the new primetime series based on the bestselling books by Debbie Macomber starring Andie MacDowell & Dylan Neal. Watch CEDAR COVE Saturday nights at 8p/7c beginning July 20 only on Hallmark Channel!

In "Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove," Andie MacDowell plays Judge Olivia Lockhart, whose Cedar Cove Municipal Court is the professional milieu and social microcosm of issues the judge will face in her own day-to-day life with family and friends. Jack Griffith (Dylan Neal), the editor of the Cedar Cove Chronicle, is a new friend and potential love interest for Judge Lockhart.

Starring Andie MacDowell, Dylan Neal, Teryl Rothery, Bruce Boxleitner, Barbara Niven, Brennan Elliot, Paula Shaw, Sarah Smyth. -- Hallmark Channel

Just a few days ago, I was reading my latest Entertainment Weekly magazine and I was so excited to see an ad for the new television series Cedar Cove. I don't have a lot of free time lately but I still manage to find the time to follow a few television series. And one that has captured my attention is Cedar Cove starring Andie MacDowell.

Cedar Cove is based on the best-seller books by Debbie Macomber, and it sure has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the Cedar Cove books; but from what I can tell, Ms. MacDowell plays a judge in Cedar Cove. I'm assuming the show will feature both Judge Olivia Lockhart's courtroom actions as well as her personal life.

I am a child of the 1980s and Andie MacDowell certainly had some memorable film roles during my teen years. I am so happy to see her back in the spotlight where she belongs!

Cedar Cove will air on Saturday nights at 8 p/7 c beginning this Saturday (July 20th) on the Hallmark Channel!


You can learn more about Cedar Cove by clicking on the links below:

Like Cedar Cove on Facebook                   

Watch the trailer, clips and more on YouTube                   

Follow @CedarCoveTV on Twitter #CedarCoveTV




Thanks to the Hallmark Channel, I have a terrific Cedar Cove Prize Pack valued at $45 to share with one lucky reader. Here's what it includes:  

• $15 Amazon Gift Card to start the Cedar Cove book series
• Recyclable shopping tote
• Debbie Macomber’s 16 Lighthouse Road Book
• Micro-Fleece winter beanie 

To enter, just fill out the form below before July 24th at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. addresses only. Good luck!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Comes to TV

I read THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY by Alexander McCall Smith when it first came out in 2003; and I read it again last year for my book club. Both times, I loved the characters and thought the author did a great job of infusing lots of humor into these mysteries. I have since read every book in the series as soon as I can get my hands on them. I just love how the main character, Precious Ramotswe, is always making "spot on" observations about the people she encounters.

I was very excited to hear the HBO has just finished a 2-hour pilot based on the series. Thirteen more shows will be filmed this summer in Botswana. I have high hopes for this show because 1) I love the books and 2) HBO knows how to do t.v. Click here for more information on the show.

If you haven't read this book or any in the series, you should give at least one a try. My entire book club liked the THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY, even those that don't like mysteries. Here is a link to a discussion guide just in case you might be interested in reading it for your book club.