Too Sweet

Keith Elliot Greenberg chronicles the growth of indie wrestling from bingo halls to a viable alternative to the WWE and speaks to those involved in the Alternative Wrestling League with remarkable candor, gaining behind-the-scenes knowledge of this growing enterprise. As COVID-19 utterly changed the world as we know it, only one sport was able to pivot and offer consistent, new, live programming on a weekly basis: professional wrestling. In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling group could draw a crowd of more than 10,000, a group of wrestlers took up the challenge. For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Center Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT. Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg’s Too Sweet takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of promotions as diverse as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.

Between the bustling local bakery, helpful neighbors, and down-home wisdom, Sugar Lake is a delicious place to call home—and love is the sweetest risk . . . Alexandrea Gale put her acting career on hold to help keep her family’s bakery in business—and gave it a few eye-catching updates while she was at it. To earn money to return to New York, she puts her design skills to work with a job renovating a once thriving local vintage theater. But Alexandrea didn’t bargain on the owner’s business-minded grandson fighting her every step of the way—or proving so unexpectedly irresistible . . . As the new head of his family’s real estate business, Kellen Kilborn feels that selling the theater is the only way to do right by the grandmother who helped raise him. He just can’t take a risk on Alexandrea’s inventive ideas—but he also can’t walk away from her warm-hearted free spirit. As troubling decisions threaten to tear them apart, can they create a way to turn their dreams into the sweetest of futures together? Praise for the Sugar Lake series “Readers will love [these] warm, witty characters who remind us all that happiness and love come only when we’re brave enough to follow our hearts.” —Jamie Beck, bestselling author of When You Knew “Perfectly captures the charm and enchantment of a small Southern town.” —Farrah Rochon, USA Today bestselling author

Born with a hatred of needles and a love of sweets, Laura Kronen shares a wide variety of personal insights relating to the diabetic life. They are often comforting and sometimes embarrassing, but always brutally honest.

DIVA vanished jungle princess forces John Easy to visit the capitol of kook: San Francisco/divDIV /divDIVThe jungle scenery is costing Marco Killespie a cool hundred thousand dollars. A stickler for quality, this king of television advertising doesn’t mind writing big checks, but his latest masterpiece—a root beer commercial—is in serious danger of going over budget. Everything was going fine until his leading lady, the up-and-coming Jill Jeffers, disappeared./divDIV /divDIVWhen a blonde goes missing in 1970s Los Angeles, it’s best to call John Easy. A too-cool private eye whose wardrobe is in better shape than his worn-out VW, he knows every hiding spot in California. The first thing he learns is that Jill is a senator’s daughter. Next he discovers that she’s gone to San Francisco, the weirdest place on Earth. Finding her there will be just as simple as a walk in the jungle./div

Charlie Sanders, a happily married empty-nester has it all; sciatica, myopia, and a dead body on her LaZBoy. This well-loved geriatric nurse at Sunnyview Villages Retirement Community discovers the body of her tenant, Oscar, dead in the family’s cabin. When the police rule Oscar’s death as an accidental overdose of insulin, she enlists the help of Oscar’s neighbor, Ray McGuffin, a retired Air Force detective to help unravel the events of the night Oscar died. The two uncover Oscar’s secret life as a professional poker player, his overwhelming school loan debt, and a series of odd photographs making them wonder if Oscar’s death is blackmail related. With the help of her patients at Sunnyview, Ray and Charlie uncover a scandal that rocks the town and leads them to Oscar’s killer. But now the killer is after Charlie and they must find solid evidence to link the scandal to the killer before Charlie becomes the next victim.

ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2020 LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE A lush, glittering short story collection exploring female obsession and desire by an award-winning author Roxane Gay calls "a consummate storyteller." From Kentucky to the California desert, these forty-two short stories -- ranging from the 80's and 90's to present day -- expose the hearts of girls and women in moments of obsessive desire and fantasy, wildness and bad behavior, brokenness and fearlessness, and more. On a hot July night, teenage girls sneak out of the house to meet their boyfriends by the train tracks. Members of a cult form an unsettling chorus as they proclaim their adoration for the same man. A woman luxuriates in a fantasy getaway to escape her past. A love story begins over cabbages in a grocery store, and a laundress's life is consumed by her obsession with a baseball star. After the death of a sister, two high school friends kiss all night and binge-watch Winona Ryder movies. Leesa Cross-Smith's sensuous stories -- some long, some gone in a flash, some told over text and emails -- drench readers in nostalgia for summer nights and sultry days. They recall the intense friendships of teenage girls and the innate bonds between mothers, the first heady rush of desire, and the pure exhilaration of womanhood, all while holding up the wild souls of women so they can catch the light.

A fully updated and expanded primer for anyone who wants to make cider and for those who just like to drink it. With the rise in consumer demand for local foods and local food products, and the emergence of more small craft food and beverage producers since this book was originally published in 2000, this revised edition of Cider, Hard and Sweet comes at the right time. Watson's expanded the section on the history of cider to chronicle lesser-known cider producers such as those in Spain and Asia; broadened the selection of North American cider varieties and European cider apple varieties; provided new cidermaking basics tailored to beginner and intermediate cidermakers with special attention to the new cidermaking equipment available; added new recipes for cooking with cider from notable chefs and bartenders; and added a new chapter about the recent popularity of perry (pear cider) available for purchase today.

Get family dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less without sacrificing beauty or flavor, from the beloved blogger and author of The Pretty Dish. “The new go-to book for home cooks everywhere. Yum!”—Ree Drummond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks With her down-to-earth style, can-do attitude, and gorgeous photography, Jessica Merchant presents Everyday Dinners, your new guide for meal prepping. Along with plant-based, one pot, and slow cooker recipes, Jessica also includes weekly dinner plans, ideas, tips and tricks, and even a 45- to 60-minute meal prep game plan for the weekends to keep cooking easy and quick on busy weeknights. You and your family will be delighted and nourished by Jessica’s recipes for Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey Ginger Chickpeas and Tahini, Tuscan Cheese Tortellini Soup, Honey Dijon Pretzel-Crusted Salmon, Grilled Peach BBQ Pork Chops with Napa Slaw, and Garlic + Chive Butter Smashed Potatoes. As life gets busier, it’s increasingly harder to set aside time to put a nourishing meal on the table after a long day. In Everyday Dinners, Jessica gives us the tools and tricks to make that possible.