We revisit some of our favorite reads in these three hot choices, including one by local author Laura Pritchett, to read on a cold night in front of your fireplace.

Sky Bridge
by Laura Pritchett
COVER: Pritchett, a Colorado native, says the muse of her Willa Award-winning novel, Sky Bridge (2005), came from eavesdropping on a five-minute conversation in a small-town diner. Laughing quietly, Pritchett explains how she overheard a waitress sigh to a coworker, "I just agreed to raise her baby, if she went full term." The few words spoken by a stranger in that diner bred an intricate narrative between sisters, an aunt and her niece, and a promise to protect an innocent life. Pritchett's research consisted of talking with pregnant teenagers, wrought with low self-esteem and fear of the uncertainty. Thus a plot began to take shape for Sky Bridge.

GUTS: Libby, a small-town 22-year-old, selflessly promises to adopt her sister's baby, hoping she'll carry to full term. A naive daydreamer and grocery-store cashier longing to be unafraid of the dark, Libby's struggles to combat the reality of her sister's mistake, to face responsibility head on. Libby's pensive internal confusion strikes a cord with the reader. "He told me that every person, to be happy, has to create something that doesn't die when he dies. For a rancher, he said, that's easy. He leaves the land. A teacher leaves something important. An artist leaves something. But for the rest, it's hard. They have to find something to create that matters, they have to do something beyond their own life." (Page 160)

GLORY: It is impossible to ignore the intensity of the situation and the claustrophobia of the rural town. However, Pritchett's cadence and carefully selected words manage to keep us aware that Libby's struggles are still, only a small part of a much bigger picture. Symbolic and uncertain, the simple scenery woven with Libby's impenetrable character beckon us, as readers, to quietly examine why we sacrifice ourselves, even when we're not asked to.

Eat, pray, love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

COVER: The title, formed from spaghetti, beads and flowers, features the three single-syllable verbs that describe some of the best things in life. Vulnerable and unapologetic, Gilbert exposes her ambiguous and tattered soul, shell-shocked from divorce and thirsty for escape. You travel along with her mastery of language (not limited to English), and her willingness to let go of the woman she was – only to discover who she really is, is who she was all along.

GUTS: A sojourn into bustling, mouth-watering Italy, then on to an Indian ashram, where time is irrelevant and days are spent in meditation. Finally, to Indonesia, lives a world of pure intention, genuine friendship and gentle passion. Gilbert's sincerity, and the confusion we can all identify with, allows us to climb inside her story, and admire her strength and resiliency.

GLORY: I immediately purchased an authentic Italian cookbook, ready to unleash my creativity into pasta preparation. I experimented with yoga and ditched the Advil, (you'll understand when you reach the part on the holistic medicine man). Then, I booked a flight alone. An unexpected ending convinces Gilbert (and us) that true love is out there – patiently waiting until we're ready.

Skinny Bitch
by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

COVER: A fashionista clad in a little black dress led me to assume the best-seller was another Candace Bushnell novelette dissecting the social lives of ladies on 5th Avenue. Instead, it's is a delicious diet guide that doesn't skirt around the obvious. Let's be honest, the skinny girl depicted in romance novels is exactly the type of bitch we all want to be deep down.

GUTS: Authors Rory Freedman (former agent for Ford Models), and Kim Barnouin (former model with a masters degree in holistic medicine), offer diet advice in a candid – border-line crass – way. Chapters such as "Don't be a Pussy" and "The Dead Rotting Decomposing Flesh Diet" challenge you to ditch the "carcasses" and embrace fruit, veggies and other "humane" edibles, which actually don't sound so bad.

GLORY: By the end of the book you'll feel like you've gotten advice from honest friends - and empowered to zip into skinny jeans and throw away fat pants. The occasional dietary blunder won't sabotage your efforts. Exercise more and eat less (duh!). The last "bite" of advice, "You are what you think," left me craving more pages - better than craving more brownies! (Hungry for more: The sequel, Skinny Bitch in The Kitch, was released in December.)

Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Changes
by Mark Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne

COVER: The Washington Post calls author Mark Penn, "probably the most powerful man in Washington you've never heard of." Exhausted from the Washington propaganda and scandal hurled at me through the cable networks, I was curious why hardly anyone had heard of this guy. Penn is a scientific sleuth, a palm reader to the masses, one who can dissect trends. Statistics are a secret weapon to Penn, who was credited with discovering the "Soccer Mom" in President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign in 1996. Penn is worldwide CEO of PR at Busron-Marsteller and Hillary Clinton's chief strategist for her presidential campaign.

GUTS: Don't let his mention of "cougars," slang for older women who date younger men, or "surgery lovers," people addicted to plastic surgery, color your thinking of Penn's writing. However, when reading how the rise in Jewish people dating non-Jewish people is indicative of online matchmaking, I begin to wonder. The obviously morbid obesity rates and students exploiting credit cards, the number of people choosing to work past retirement, aren't astonishing statements. But when Penn exposes the widely accepted trend of parents, who use animals as substitutes for children; the surge of pro-Semites and the hypothesis that middle-class Americans care about politician's positions on issues, when higher-income brackets put more emphasis in how a candidate dresses, that is when I begin to fear that the fire-alarm is never going to go off.

GLORY: I'll never again underestimate viral influence, and I'll closely pay attention to how my choices align with those of the masses, or better yet, the powerful. If anything, after reading this book I realized that even though our lives are intertwined through work, friends, the true catalyst deeply embedded in every aspect of who we are, is the World Wide Web. Don't hesitate to investigate the Internet's role in politics, media, and your personal space. I fear that our volition no longer ultimately affects us, the true power might be in understanding the route in which, we reach a decision.

For One More Day
by Mitch Albom.

COVER: The plain cover reminiscent of any reprinted classic holds two easily identifiable words, Mitch Albom. The sports columnist, who captured the heart of the masses with his bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie, reaches every demographic. Whether you're a grandma or recently graduated from middle school, Albom's prose carries spirit. Yes, it's esoteric, but possesses a quality that ventures into the unknown. He dives into the abyss of our minds, exploring concepts ritually ignored, like death, regret, illness and love. However, Albom's genius is not the complexity of his words, but the life he breathes into his characters, each whom are endearing and flawed.

GUTS: Albom's newest character is Charlie. We witness a ghostlike string of vignettes tying his childhood to his adulthood. Shameful and alcoholic Charlie returns to the long abandoned home he was raised in, unsure whether he is dead, or alive in the story, it doesn't really matter. Because, we know throughout the novel he is comforted by the apparition of his late mother, who raised him single-handedly. The scenes are vivid and translucent, as though you are stuck in this surreal, dreamlike reality with Charlie. As he ventures back and forth from affectionate conversations with his mother, and his interpretation of the malicious and spiteful choices he made as an
adolescent.

GLORY: Albom is yet to narrate a book that doesn't question our very existence. Charlie is forced to contemplate the value and worth of his actions, ultimately touching on the significant relationship between a mother and son, and the continuance of her love. The climatic element in Albom's rhythmic reads are not enclosed in the last few pages, but found with the quiet nostalgia and gentle appreciation that will haunt you, long after you've finished his book.

BOOKS BY THE FIRE: Hot spots in Denver for a cozy time Five places scattered around the Denver area – there are plenty more – to sip a mug of steaming hot chocolate or nurse a warm cup of coffee around a rousing fireplace:

Stella's Coffee House
1476 S Pearl St. Denver, CO 80210
303.777.1031

Fluid Coffee Bar
501 E 19th Ave. Denver, CO 80202
720.519.4681
www.FluidCoffeeBar.com

Dazbog Coffee House
8357 N. Rampart Range Rd. Littleton CO 80125
303.979.0511
Visit www.DazBog.com for other locations.

Capuvino
728 S. University Blvd. Denver, CO 80209
303.282.4914
www.capuvino.com

Tattered Cover Book Store
1628 16th St. Denver, CO 80202
303.436.1070
www.TatteredCover.com