#HASHTAG: LISA BARR

LISA BARR, Deerfield resident and New York Times bestselling author of Woman on Fire, is poised to release her highly anticipated new historical thriller—The Goddess of Warsaw, a harrowing and ultimately triumphant tale of a Jewish WWII assassin turned Hollywood star. Barr will be speaking at Bernie’s Book Bank Book Lovers’ Lunch on May 10. Barr began her career at Margie Korshak Associates (her first big account was launching Starbucks in Chicago). Later, she served as managing editor of Today’s Chicago Woman and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, for which she launched the paper’s first woman’s section: Lifestyles. In addition, Barr served as an editor/reporter for The Jerusalem Post and managing editor of Moment magazine. Among the highlights of her career, she covered the famous “handshake” between the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and President Bill Clinton at the White House. She has been featured on Good Morning America and Today for her work as an author and journalist. In exciting book news: Actress Sharon Stone has optioned rights to adapt Women on Fire for film. Hands-down, Lisa says her greatest accomplishment is being mom to three daughters. Barr put her pen down to share how she stays current while juggling book tours and carpools.

#ON MY NIGHTSTAND

Love, love Danielle Trussoni’s captivating thriller The Puzzle Master, about an expert puzzle master who finds himself embroiled in an ancient mystery. The author’s mouthwatering research alone gave me the best kind of goosebumps. This gripping novel has a little bit of everything: part Friday Night Lights, part The DaVinci Code, part love story, historical, philosophical, sensual, supernatural, a little terrifying, with a strong spoonful of Jewish mysticism—Kabbalah. This book is stellar, the writing is gorgeous, and I inhaled every word.

#ON MY MOBILE

“Just the facts, Ma’am.” Everyone has an opinion so I listen/read as many sources as I can to get to the real story—the truth. My day consists of five news broadcasts, eight online news pubs to get my daily dose … and of course, my guilty pleasures are Page Six and People.

#IN MY EARBUDS

I’m a ‘70s girl at heart (I own a dozen pairs of bell bottoms)—so my music tastes run from seventies rock (Stones) and disco (when I’m driving and “in concert”) to Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow (she gets me). My favorite podcast, of course, is book related—Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books with Zibby Owens. Zibby gets up close and personal with authors, and I relish hearing other authors’ processes and what’s “behind the scenes.”