Bookshelf

(New York: Hachette Go, 2024).

 “How do I build a brand in today’s social media world?” That’s the question the author, the real estate broker and star of Bravo network’s Million Dollar Listing New York, answers in this, his third book. While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that 50% of the workforce will be the gig economy by 2027, Serhant says no one is being taught the skills or ideas to be successful in this new marketplace. “They are being trained for the jobs of a decade ago or a world where there weren’t personal brands or so many small businesses that need to brand and market themselves,” he says.

According to the book’s publisher: “Whether you’re a real estate broker, a hair stylist, or a freelance contractor, your end goal is the same: get leads and generate new business. You want people to think of you the split second they consider looking for a new apartment, getting highlights, or finally redoing that guest bathroom. And while building a brand from scratch sounds daunting, the authentic you is already a brand — you just might not know it yet.

“Brand It Like Serhant brings readers through Ryan’s three-step strategy that transformed him from that-broker-above-Burger Heaven into the founder of SERHANT., the most recognized real estate brand in the world. In Phase One, you’ll discover your core identity, from your written brand statement to fonts, colors, posing for photos, and more. In Phase Two, you’ll learn how to deliver consistent content — realistically — by understanding social platforms and making the right choices for your work. And in Phase Three, you’ll shout it from the mountaintops: share your accolades, leverage growth, and achieve your full potential.”

(Albany, N.Y.: King Jesus Press, 2024).

This book asks the question: “If you’re invited to the party and it’s not jumping, do you leave or stay and make the party?” Breland, the former longtime director of Hamilton’s Opportunities Programs, offers lessons for those seeking positive change to “embrace themselves, create new habits, and live the new behaviors that bring them incremental change they can believe in.” In other words, this book is a compilation of lessons to keep the party going.

(Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Special Publications, 2024).

The author, trustee professor of English emeritus at Ohio University, explores his life as a champion of the Bard and a fan of the Detroit Tigers. According to the publisher, “He saw his first Tigers game in the summer of 1950 (Hal Newhouser beat the Chicago White Sox) and his first Shakespeare play in 1953 (Alec Guinness as Richard III at Ontario’s Stratford Festival) and has spent almost 75 years enjoying and writing about the pleasures of play that each provides.

“… Crowl finds unexpected connections between his twin subjects, including beer, which funded and fueled both the establishment of Major League Baseball clubs, like the Yankees and Cardinals, and the creation of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. A deeper linkage is that Shakespeare’s festive comedies kept the ideas, rituals, and customs of rural England alive in the dense urban world of Elizabethan London, just as baseball kept the image of the garden — the rural American past in which the game took shape ­— alive in the 20th-century American city. The book is written in a style that captures what one reader has called Crowl’s ‘warm, rich Midwestern voice’ and will be of interest to fans of the game and of the Bard, from high schoolers on up.”

(self-published, 2022).

Written for children 7 years of age and younger, this book encourages interaction by posing questions the reader is asked to answer by drawing from their own experiences and knowledge. The story documented is true, and the characters in the book are real. The author reminds young readers not to tell anyone who is the guest, so that others will also be excited to find out “who came from nowhere.”

(Los Angeles: TKO Studios, 2023).

This colorful and engaging hardcover graphic novel by Orlando and Andrés, a chef and humanitarian, shares stories of the people involved with World Central Kitchen, an organization that has provided over 300 million meals to communities in times of crisis. Dynamic illustrations by Alberto Ponticelli bring to life the work of World Central Kitchen as its people travel into natural disasters across the world to bring food and hope to those most affected by natural disasters, man-made crises, and humanitarian emergencies.

(North Charleston, S.C.: Palmetto Publishing, 2023).

In this, his first novel, the author crafts a compelling tale of intrigue and romance set in pre-World War II New York, Italy, and The Vatican. The protagonist, Tommy “Mac” McCabe Martin — who has something in common with Morelli: they are both lawyers — finds himself plucked from his Wall Street law firm and thrust into the world of international espionage.

“As a counsel to the Vatican, Mac’s descriptive reports about Italy, its people, and their sentiments toward Fascism and America earn the attention of President Roosevelt,” notes the publisher. “Yet amidst the political tension, Mac’s heart is ensnared by two women: the mysterious Slavic spy, Sara, who vanishes as swiftly as she appears, and the enchanting Italian belle, Carla, whom he weds in a ceremony worthy of royalty. As Mac’s world is further embroiled in the war’s turmoil, their lives take unexpected turns, from the glitzy world of Broadway to the dangerous frontlines in Sicily. With vivid portrayals of iconic settings like the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Little Italy, and the glamorous steamship journeys across the Atlantic, Morelli paints an immersive tapestry of love, betrayal, and destiny.”

(self-published, 2023).

Writing under the pen name George Garcia, the author spins this heartwarming tale about inclusivity and friendship. Young readers will “wriggle, squiggle and laugh” as the Taliaferro’s niece Clementine convinces a new little friend to go with her to school. 

(New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024).

The latest from the New York Times bestselling author — and the third book in the Crescent City series — House of Flame and Shadow continues the story of Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar, whose relationship is forced to the brink and their world on the verge of destruction as they fight to pull their realm back from ruin. Entertainment Weekly has called the series, “A dizzying, suspenseful whirl that surprises at every turn.”

(New York: Poets of Queens, 2023).

According to the publisher, “Moving between narrative and reflection, and reveling in the genre of the long poem, Robert Kaplan uses detailed imagery to invite the reader into a slice of 1980s New York City: the urban landscape, the national politics, gay exuberance and loss, and, weaving throughout, the shadow of the AIDS epidemic. The title poem, “Past/Present,” which is the first half of the book, sprawls through layers of time, failed romance, geographic movement, and growing self-awareness as the narrator sheds multiple selves to find his core. The poems in the second half of the book (re)create a sensory and personal landscape which becomes a metaphorical and meditative platform upon which to address questions of memory, identity, relationships, and how to navigate through an increasingly unstable world.”

(self-published, 2023).

Bringing us closer to our natural environment, this book chronicles life in the forest through stunning photos and artful poetry. Its authors are a highly acclaimed team of photographers and poets from Europe and the United States. According to the author, “… explore the metamorphoses of bugs transforming bygone life into new creations, find solace and guidance from the river's secrets, unlock natural therapies from ancient trees talking with fungi, or take a deep breath of fresh air as leaves breathe and flowers speak.”