Reading and Reviews (Plakcy and Berry)

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. From time to time, I'll share my reviews of present and past reads. My available time to read is limited because I write, but I love to curl up with a paperback or an eBook at night for the last hour of my day. 

Here are some of the books I've read recently. Maybe you'll discover a new book or author.

 

Grounds for Hope: Smiling Dog Cafe (The Smiling Dog Cafe Book 3) by Neil S. Plakcy 

At a quiet Brooklyn café watched over by painted dogs and warmed by just the right cup of coffee, two teenagers arrive—lost, hurting, and unsure where to turn next.

In this deeply compassionate third entry in the Smiling Dog Café series—fully enjoyable as a standalone—author Neil S. Plakcy shares two powerful novellas about grief, resilience, and the unexpected ways we find our way home.

In Grounds for Hope, Miguel is alone on the streets after his father is deported back to their violence-plagued homeland. Cold, hungry, and nearly out of hope, he’s led to the café by a mysterious pit bull named Baxter—and taken in by Betty, the wise café owner whose coffee and compassion help restore his sense of safety and purpose.

In Finding Grace, Tanya is reeling after her mother’s decision to walk away from their life to “find herself.” Angry and unmoored, Tanya is gently nudged toward the café by Kiyomi, a calm, three-legged Samoyed—and slowly begins to rediscover her strength, her voice, and her path forward.

This tender volume celebrates how healing begins—in community, through ritual and memory, and with the quiet guidance of a dog who always knows exactly who needs help next.

Come in from the cold. The coffee’s brewing, and the dogs are waiting. 

My Review

I’m a dog lover, and I was immediately drawn to this book by the premise: dogs possess an innate sense to help and heal. The book relies on well-defined characters who are caring and have issues that immerse the reader in the story. A boy who is illegal in the country and how he finds a path to find his way is ripe for our times. Mr. Plakcy tells his story as if he’s lived it. Tanya might be a girl of privilege, but the pain of her mother’s action is deep. The café offers both of these young people hope.

 https://www.amazon.com/Grounds-Hope-Smiling-Cafe-Book-ebook/dp/B0FGWRNK2Y 

 

 

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry 

A family’s secret, a ruthless fanatic, and a covert arm of the American government—all are linked by a single puzzling possibility:

What if everything we know about the discovery of America was a lie? What if that lie was designed to hide the secret of why Columbus sailed in 1492? And what if that 500-year-old secret could violently reshape the modern political world?
 
Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot spots around the world. But when one of his stories from the Middle East is exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives in virtual exile—haunted by bad decisions and a shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his torment with the squeeze of a trigger, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger. This stranger forces Sagan to act—and his actions attract the attention of the Magellan Billet, a top-secret corps of the United States Justice Department that deals with America’s most sensitive investigations. Sagan suddenly finds himself caught in an international incident, the repercussions of which will shudder not only Washington, D.C., but also Jerusalem. Coaxed into a deadly cat-and-mouse game, unsure who’s friend and who’s foe, Sagan is forced to Vienna, Prague, then finally into the Blue Mountains of Jamaica—where his survival hinges on his rewriting everything we know about Christopher Columbus. 

My Review

This story held my interest and kept me turning pages because of the “what if” factor. Plus, in the recent years of factoids and fabrications you can find on the Internet, so much has been speculated about Columbus. It was a fun read of fiction and fact.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OCYQJU/

Dogs and Coffee: Full of Hope by Neil C. Plakcy

MUSE MONDAY

Please welcome Neil Plakcy to Muse Monday on Discover... He's sharing his spot today with Betty Martinez, the owner of The Smiling Dog Cafe. Neil has a wonderful series full of hope and doggies and coffee. All three of which are my favorite things. Today is release day for the third book in his series, Grounds for Hope. I have it cued on my reader and can't wait to dive in. Meanwhile, enjoy Betty's delightful lesson on coffee...

Betty’s Guide to Coffee Beans
A Smiling Dog Café offering
 

Welcome, Friend.

There's a reason you're holding this guide right now. Perhaps you're looking for a deeper understanding of the coffee you drink each morning. Maybe you're searching for that perfect cup that brings comfort on difficult days. 

Whatever brought you to these pages, welcome. I'm Betty Martinez, owner of the Smiling Dog Café in Brooklyn, and I believe that coffee, like healing, is both science and art. It requires precision and patience, but also intuition and heart. 

In my thirty years as a grief counselor before opening the café, I learned that people need different things at different moments. The same is true of coffee. Sometimes we need the bright clarity of a light roast to help us face new beginnings. Other times, we need the deep comfort of a dark roast to hold us through difficult nights. 

This guide focuses on coffee beans - their origins, characteristics, and the stories they carry within them. The beans are just the beginning of our journey together, but they're the foundation upon which every meaningful cup is built. 

Understanding Coffee Beans: The Heart of Every Cup

Coffee beans aren't really beans at all. They're the seeds of coffee cherries, fruits that grow on small trees in specific regions around the world. Like people, these seeds carry the legacy of their origins - the soil that nourished them, the rainfall that quenched their thirst, the sunlight that warmed them through seasons of growth. 

When we roast these seeds, we're helping them transform their stored potential into something that can nourish others. The heat reveals qualities that were always present but hidden, brings forward notes of chocolate or fruit or spice that tell the story of where they came from and how they grew. 

Every coffee bean carries its own particular wisdom. Learning to listen to what each one has to tell us is part of the journey toward that perfect cup - the one that speaks directly to you, in your own language of comfort and joy. 

In Colombia, I met Dona Clemencia, who told me, "You already know the most important thing—that coffee is medicine for the soul before it is anything else." 

When I asked what she meant, Doña Clemencia invited us into her modest home, where she prepared coffee using a method I'd only seen my grandmother use—cloth filtered, with a patience that modern brewing rarely allows. The kitchen filled with an aroma so complex it seemed to have its own vocabulary. 

"In Colombia," she explained, "we say that coffee has memory. It remembers the soil, the rain, the hands that picked it. And when we drink it mindfully, it helps us remember too—not just the painful things we try to forget, but also the joyful things we shouldn't." 

The Colombian beans I brought home from that trip—particularly those from high-altitude farms in Huila and Nariño—carried complex notes of red fruit, chocolate, and a pleasant nuttiness with a clean, bright acidity. But their true value lay in what they taught us about healing. Not the American model of "getting over" grief, but the Colombian understanding that some griefs remain with us forever, becoming integrated into who we are, like the flavor of the soil becomes part of the coffee bean. 

I discovered that Colombian coffees seemed particularly effective for people struggling with transitions—those caught between past and future, between pain and possibility. The beans' balance of brightness and depth mirrored what we were learning about healing: that acknowledgment of darkness makes the light more appreciable, not less.

The finest Colombian coffees still carry that perfect tension between acidic brightness and comforting warmth—a reminder that healing doesn't mean forgetting, but finding balance between remembering and moving forward. 

When I brew Colombian beans at the café, especially for someone navigating life's thresholds—graduation, career change, relationship endings—I think of Doña Clemencia's weathered hands, showing us that nurturing growth requires both tenderness and strength. 

These memories infuse the coffee I serve, invisible but present, like the altitude and rainfall that shaped the beans themselves. This is what I learned in Colombia: that coffee, at its best, is not just a beverage but a bridge—between past and present, between cultures, between people seeking to understand each other across the chasms of different experiences. 

Selecting Your Coffee Beans

When choosing coffee beans, consider what you're seeking in this moment: 

For Mornings of New Beginnings

Reach for lighter roasts from Ethiopia or Kenya, where bright, citrusy notes can help you greet the day with clarity and purpose. These coffees awaken the senses and remind us that each day offers fresh possibilities. 

For Thoughtful Afternoons

Medium roasts from Colombia or Costa Rica provide the perfect balance for contemplative moments. Their harmonious flavors create space for reflection without demanding too much attention.

 For Evenings of Comfort

A medium-dark Guatemalan or a sweet Brazilian offers warmth and grounding as the day winds down. Their gentle sweetness soothes without overwhelming. 

For Moments of Transformation

A dark Sumatran or robust Vietnamese coffee can accompany you through times of intense change. Their bold presence reminds you of your own strength even as you transform. 

 A word from Neil:

You are always welcome at The Smiling Dog Café, down a Brooklyn side street, where the coffee’s brewing, and the dogs are waiting to help you with your own healing process. To read the stories that have come before you, you can find The Smiling Dog Café, The Bridge Between Us, and our newest offering, Grounds for Hope, available on Monday, August 4, 2025. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4Z5VHTC

GROUNDS FOR HOPE:  At a quiet Brooklyn café watched over by painted dogs and warmed by just the right cup of coffee, two teenagers arrive—lost, hurting, and unsure where to turn next.

In this deeply compassionate third entry in the Smiling Dog Café series—fully enjoyable as a standalone—author Neil S. Plakcy shares two powerful novellas about grief, resilience, and the unexpected ways we find our way home.

In Grounds for Hope, Miguel is alone on the streets after his father is deported back to their violence-plagued homeland. Cold, hungry, and nearly out of hope, he’s led to the café by a mysterious pit bull named Baxter—and taken in by Betty, the wise café owner whose coffee and compassion help restore his sense of safety and purpose.

In Finding Grace, Tanya is reeling after her mother’s decision to walk away from their life to “find herself.” Angry and unmoored, Tanya is gently nudged toward the café by Kiyomi, a calm, three-legged Samoyed—and slowly begins to rediscover her strength, her voice, and her path forward.

This tender volume celebrates how healing begins—in community, through ritual and memory, and with the quiet guidance of a dog who always knows exactly who needs help next.

Come in from the cold. The coffee’s brewing, and the dogs are waiting.

AMAZON BUY LINK

I’m proud that since the first book was released in January, we have already garnered nearly 200 four- and five-star reviews from satisfied customers. 

Neil S. Plakcy is the author of over 70 novels in mystery, romance, adventure and healing fiction. His website is www.mahubooks.com.