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Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

“Small moments and large tragedies are handled with unselfconscious delicacy and humor in this sweet read.”—Library Journal’s Booksmack

“Tells of the kisses that shaped her life and uses them to tell of her search to get life right in a sharp, funny memoir, ideal for other women seeking the same thing.”—BookReviews.com

“Witty, insightful, and full of promise. Sternbach goes through her own tragedies and has seen fit to share them with us in a way that makes life seem like an adventure; something to be taken advantage of and embraced. This book is recommended for women, but men could learn a thing or two as well.”--Tulsa Books Examiner

“Through her nimble use of language, which is delightfully suffused with sarcasm, she connects with women of various ages and experiences….less a story of one woman’s life, and much more a celebration of the experience of living a woman’s life.”—Elevate Difference

“Moving….what makes this book so easy to love is its offbeat execution…her breezy prose has a natural, effortless quality that is surely the result of great care.”—Newest.net

“A woman’s life recalled through kisses: the blissful, the unwelcome, and those she longed for that never came.”—People Magazine

“Sternbach shares the stories of all kinds of kisses: the first kiss that didn’t even happen; the kiss at the end of a rousingly successful catering event that eventually led her to her life partner; a tragic blind-date kiss that ended in pain; an ever-so-tender goodbye kiss to a deceased cousin; the stolen kiss from the lifeguard at Bible camp. Interconnected essays form a charming and engrossing memoir. After all, ‘a kiss is still a kiss.’”—Nancy Simpson, The Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA

“I marked every page where she made a personal connection with me, and my ARC is literally stuffed with post-its. From The Borrowers and Carole King, Datsun 280Z’s, bras flying from the flagposts at summer camp - it was like my life was rushing back into focus. We’re the generation of girls who fought over our favorite Beatle—and still do!...And then there is the shadow that cancer has cast over our lives. We’ve all been touched, whether it’s a mother or a sister or a friend. Like I said in a tweet, Claudia seems like the sister I never had. My own personal book club will love this book.”— Margie White, Just the Bookstore

“Sternbach…is an impressive stylist and a candid guide through her life. Although the reality of kissing serves as the connecting thread, each essay is grounded in one of a wide variety of complementary topics, such as the first love as an adolescent, best friends, parents, sisters, birthdays, tennis, summer camp, air travel, marriage, divorce, cancer, rape and death—among others. Sternbach has carefully considered how to make a life story interesting through unusual yet approachable formatting, and she throws humor, sarcasm and self-deprecation into the mix….A memorable, laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud essay collection for both genders and all ages.”—Kirkus Reviews


“Reading Lips: a Memoir of Kisses rings true and sweet as a music box. In a sea of memoirs based on big marketing hooks, Sternbach’s subtle theme is refreshing and, you come to realize, profound. Flawless pitch and balance. Guileless, unaffected writing. A book club’s dream date. I loved this perfect little opal earring of a book.”  — Joni Rodgers

“Through it all is Sternbach’s voice, ringing with clarity and insight and a healthy sense of humor about the experiences we all share but rarely discuss. This slim volume is a one-sitting read and would be an excellent companion on the couch, the beach, or at a book club meeting. Sternbach is funny when she wants to be, serious when she needs to be, and often quite poignant, and Reading Lips is a delightful gift of a book.” - The Book Lady’s Blog

“As humorous as the memoir of any major comedian, Sternbach’s Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses has the added bonus of being heartwarming and touching.”—The Well Read Wife

“By the end of the book, readers will have fallen in love with this humble, intelligent, and funny woman who so craftily and wittily manages to take the stories of her life in kisses and make them feel like they belong to us all.”—Christy’s Book Blog

“Funny, wistful, sad, and bittersweet….Reading Lips is a quick and entertaining read.”—Everyday I Write the Book

“Can I just say that I absolutely loved and adored Reading Lips by Claudia Sternbach? To put it simply, Reading Lips is a short and sweet, funny yet heartwarming [book].” - Toothy Books

Excellent memoir, ‘Reading Lips,’ reveals a life, one kiss at a time - Good Times, Santa Cruz

CLAUDIA STERNBACH

READING LIPS: A MEMOIR OF KISSES

Kisses, even the ones that don’t happen, can be the trace of what’s constant when life changes. In childhood, when what seems to define everything is competition—for style, for knowing, for experience—a kiss is the first first. When a girl’s father moves out and chooses a new family, a kiss on the head from him may be the trace of constancy that she wants most.

Later, such things take on a different flavor. Sometimes the kiss she wants doesn’t come.  Sometimes the one she wouldn’t have is forced upon her. From time to time, the one she has kissed before is lost to her.

Some kisses are final. When things are most hectic a kiss can be a celebration. And when circumstances grow threatening—to a woman, her family, her sister—a kiss becomes the reassertion of the most vital connections.

The rich story in these essays rings with good humor and with moving wistfulness. Throughout, Sternbach maintains a perfect balance between them as her story moves from the bittersweet desires of childhood on through loss and love.

Reading Lips is the tale of one woman who is just trying to get life right.

BOOK INFORMATION

$14.95 / $15.95 CAN | MEMOIR Paperback | 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 | 224 pages

April 5, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-60953-037-2 | Carton Quantity: 24

EISBN: 978-1-60953-038-9

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READ EXCERPT

Thirty minutes later we were back at the hotel, sitting cross-legged on Jason’s bed, diamonds spread in front of us. We were suffering from something I now think of as Diamond Fever.

We were giddy. Jason opened a bottle of wine from the minibar. We toasted each other. He held the diamonds up to my ears. Just to see how I would look with really good accessories. And perhaps that was what got to him. My finely dressed ears. But the next thing, we were kissing. It was only one kiss. But I will say it was a good one. Really good. Surprisingly good. Considering.  I thought about all the times Rock Hudson had kissed Doris Day. Was this what it was like for good old Doris?  Handsome Rock kissing away and Doris knowing he was probably thinking of Roddy McDowell?

When we pulled apart I noticed Jason’s eyes were still closed. And his hands were still on my earlobes. Slowly he dropped his hands and opened his eyes.  I wondered if he might cry. Might accuse me of despoiling his lips. Maybe they had never been kissed by a woman other than his mother. I was ready for can’teven-catch-your-breath drama. But he looked fine. Really fine. Like nothing at all unusual had happened.

“So, let me show you how we’re gonna get these babies into the country,” he said, smiling. “Wanna help?” And he took two sinus inhalers. The kind we all carried on the plane in case ears plugged up. He unscrewed the bottoms and emptied out the innards. Then, taking tiny pieces of tissue, he showed me how we would wrap each and every diamond, placing them back into the inhalers.  Screwing the bottoms back on.

The next day I couldn’t decide which was the bigger secret. The kiss or the smuggling. But when passing through customs and being stopped by the agent, we both simply smiled and said we had nothing to declare.

Download an extended excerpt PDF

THE AUTHOR

Claudia Sternbach

Claudia Sternbach is a writer who is equally at home on both coasts. She has one foot in Manhattan where her daughter resides and the other in northern California where her husband is planted as firmly as the redwoods. she is the author of another memoir, Now Breathe (1999, Whiteaker Press), has been published in several anthologies as well as in major newspapers, and is the Editor in Chief of Memoir (and), a literary journal.

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