The True Naomi Story

It's every girl's dream: to be catapulted from a boring, everyday existence into a world of fame, riches, adoring fans and critical acclaim. This fabulous and page-turning novel follows the path of the loveable Naomi, from her days waiting tables in New York's East Village, to signing a record deal and playing packed stadium gigs. It's as if one day she woke up to find the dreams she had as a shy, gawky teenager from nerdsville had all come true at once... But stardom isn't always all it's cracked up to be. Soon Naomi's adrift in a world where lovers are players, where friends quickly become enemies, and where you never quite know just who you can trust. Can Naomi learn to play the game of fame before her star comes tumbling down?

A hilarious story of one man’s obsession and a brilliant reckoning of a nation’s cultural confusion—from a master Japanese novelist. When twenty-eight-year-old Joji first lays eyes upon the teenage waitress Naomi, he is instantly smitten by her exotic, almost Western appearance. Determined to transform her into the perfect wife and to whisk her away from the seamy underbelly of post-World War I Tokyo, Joji adopts and ultimately marries Naomi, paying for English and music lessons that promise to mold her into his ideal companion. But as she grows older, Joji discovers that Naomi is far from the naïve girl of his fantasies. And, in Tanizaki’s masterpiece of lurid obsession, passion quickly descends into comically helpless masochism.

The whole story of the three enormously talented Judds -- mother Naomi and daughters Wynonna and Ashley -- from Naomi's humble beginnings as the divorced Diana Ciminella to her fabulous multi-Grammy-winning, platinum-selling career in the company of her glamorous daughters. But this exciting panorama hasn't been all glamour: the Judds' personal life often resembles a war zone, with fights and feuds aplenty, each one recorded here, bullet by bullet. This tell-all family biography has sure-fire appeal for the vast audience of Judds fans and readers interested in the history of increasingly popular country music.

An ambulance screams through the Jerusalem’s quiet streets. Inside, a toddler fights for his life, his parents nowhere to be found. With profound shock, an emergency room doctor realizes that the child’s mother—a young American—is already at the hospital, sitting at the bedside of yet another child with traumatic injuries. Devoutly reciting Pslams, she stubbornly refuses to answer any questions, cautioning her children to say nothing. Brought in to investigate, Jerusalem detective Bina Tzedek-herself a young mother- carefully peels back layer after layer of secrets and lies, following a dark, winding path through Jerusalem’s Old City, kabbalists, mystical ancient texts, and terrifying cult rituals, until she comes face to face with the horrifying truth which has held a young American family captive. Based on true events, The Devil in Jerusalem from internationally bestselling author Naomi Ragen is an eye-opening look at the dangerous predators lurking around the watering holes of those who come seeking spiritual enlightenment.

The Instant New York Times bestseller A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A captivating debut novel about the tangled fates of two best friends and daughters of the Italian mafia, and a coming-of-age story of twentieth-century Brooklyn itself. Two daughters. Two families. One inescapable fate. Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community: the Family. Sunday dinners gather them each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love. But the disappearance of Antonia’s father drives a whisper-thin wedge between the girls as they grow into women, wives, mothers, and leaders. Their hearts expand in tandem with Red Hook and Brooklyn around them, as they push against the boundaries of society’s expectations and fight to preserve their complex but life-sustaining friendship. One fateful night their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested. Only one of them can pull the trigger before it’s too late.