Slightly Off Kilter

Made To Stick

Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas “stick."

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the “Velcro Theory of Memory,” and creating “curiosity gaps.”

The Legend of Beka Cooper

I've just finished reading Terrier: The Legend of Beka Cooper by Tamora Pierce. This is the first Beka book; the second is coming soon in hardcover.

Beka Cooper is a "puppy", a first-year rookie with the law-enforcing Provost’s Guard, more commonly known as the Provost’s Dogs. Beka lives in Tortall, scene of many of Tamora Pierce's books, but set three hundred years before the stories of Alanna, "The Lioness", take place. ...
       Continue reading "The Legend of Beka Cooper"

The Cosmic Clues

Most of the mass-market paperback mystery fiction shelved in our bookstores was written by American authors. Their characters live in the United States because the authors do. After all, there are a lot of authors in the US.

Of those not set in one of the 50 United States, I'd say a majority of the remainder are set in England. England is unarguably the traditional home of the "cozy mystery".

So The Cosmic Clues comes as a surprise and a treat — both the author, Manjiri Prabhu, and her protagonist, Sonia Samarth, live in Pune, India. ...
       Continue reading "The Cosmic Clues"

Jelled Teams

I've had the pleasure and satisfaction of working in a Jelled Team. They're special. They're rare. They're endangered...

We tend to use the word team fairly loosely in the business world, calling any group of people assigned to work together a “team”. But many of these groups just don’t seem like teams. They don’t have a common definition of success or any identifiable team spirit. Something is missing. What is missing is a phenomenon we call jell.

Purple House Press

I discovered Purple House Press in late 2000 while doing a used book search for a copy of The Space Child's Mother Goose by Frederick Winsor. First published by Simon and Schuster 1958, this book had been out of print for decades.

In 2000, Jill Morgan started Purple House Press, with the mission of reviving long lost, but well loved children's books. One of the first books she brought back to life was The Space Child's Mother Goose. I ordered several copies. ...
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Harry Dresden

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

We've been fans of Harry Dresden for a long time. Harry, the only practicing wizard in Chicago, is the protagonist of Jim Butcher's fantasy series, The Dresden Files. ...
       Continue reading "Harry Dresden"

Amanda Quick

I'm actually quite fond of romance novels, both contemporary and historical; however, I'm very picky about the authors I read. I like the characters to be real and interesting, people I would invite to dinner or tea, people I would like to know as friends. ...
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Losses: Phil Frank, Robert Jordan

Phil Frank, whose cartoons graced the pages of The Chronicle and other newspapers for more than 30 years, died Wednesday night only a few days after he announced his retirement because of illness.

Phil Frank dies - cartoonist who captured spirit of Bay Area - SF Chronicle, Sept 14, 2007

---

Author Robert Jordan, whose "Wheel of Time" series of fantasy novels sold millions of copies, died Sunday of a rare blood disease.

Author Robert Jordan Dies - SF Chronicle, Sept 17, 2007

Both will be missed. ...
       Continue reading "Losses: Phil Frank, Robert Jordan"

Dick Francis

We've started reading Dick Francis' books. He's an excellent writer.

I had always been under the impression that Francis wrote about horse racing. This is true, to some extent — every book has a tie-in to horses and horse racing.

But the center of the plot is often something else. In Shattered, for example, the protagonist is a glass blower by trade, trying to unravel the mystery of a video tape he was given, a tape that was stolen before he could view it. Now, several people are after the tape, and they're not afraid to use violence to find it.

It's classic mystery fiction, with the Dick Francis twist. The person who gave our hero the tape was a jockey, killed in a fall on the day the tape changed hands. Many (but not all) of the villains in the piece are related to horse racing. Still, there's a lot of glass involved, among other things.

The situations are interesting. The writing is tight. The heroes are people you want to win (and the villains are people you're happy to see carted off to gaol).

And, if you like horses, there are always a few to be found.

The Magic of Harry Potter

I realized that one of the things I like best about Harry Potter is that he appeals to adults. Fans of Harry Potter are not limited to the 8-10 set

I was first introduced to Harry Potter, back when the first book came out, by a co-worker. My parents (who obviously have children, but whose children are, literally, my age :-) have read Harry Potter and seen the movies. . I've been talking about the latest movie with friends at work. They're all adults; many of them have no children.

Rich and I have all of the books. In fact, we own two sets of Harry Potter books - the standard US hardcover editions, and the UK hardcover "adult editions". That there is an "adult" edition speaks, er... volumes.

Catku

What is the Sound of One Cat Napping?

I bought a delightful little book called Catku.

The origins of the ancient Japanese poetic form known as Haiku are shrouded in mystery and legend. Among these legends are — well, frankly, no mention of cats at all. But if a cat had a spiritual discipline, it seems that it would inevitably be Zen. And if a cat were to express himself in poetry, it seems equally inevitable that his preferred form would be the compact, often inscrutable, sometime abrupt, always provocative seventeen syllables of Haiku...

From the front (cat) flap of Catku, by Pat Welch.

Printed in brown and sepia tones on parchment-look paper, illustrated with woodcuts and Kanji characters, Catku expresses the essence of the feline in one hundred paw-sized verses.

You seek fulfillment
Through love, wealth, travel, career.
Have you tried kittens?

It's an Inside Joke

I enjoy "sight gags" and inside jokes.. Examples may be subtle and you can miss the joke entirely if you're not paying attention, or don't have the right context. Some excellent examples can be found in in comic strips and books.

The Foxtrot strip includes frequent sight gags (watch closely!) as well as references to cartoons and cartoonist. ...
       Continue reading "It's an Inside Joke"

Where Do You Prefer to Work?

Read my commentary...

Disappearing Nightly

"A paranormal screwball comedy adventure. Light, happy, fantastically funny!" —Jennifer Crusie, author of Bet Me

Disappearing Nightly is a delightful, fast-paced, light-hearted urban fantasy by Laura Resnick. It has a sharp, likable cast of characters and plenty of snappy repartee. ...
       Continue reading "Disappearing Nightly"

Thames Valley Mysteries

A 6-Letter Word For Murder

Murder Can Be Puzzling

Dropping the Pink Elephant

15 Ways to Say What You Mean...and Mean What You Say

Close your eyes and don't think of a Pink Elephant

According to author Bill McFarlan, the mind instantly ignores the "don't" and concentrates on the rest of the sentence. He's named these unnecessary (and futile) negatives in speech "pink elephants". When we add "pink elephants" to our conversations, we are often denying something we haven't been accused of! Yet, as a result, we receive the reaction we were trying so hard to avoid. ...
       Continue reading "Dropping the Pink Elephant"

Freakonomics

Freakonomics is always engaging, often intriguing, and frequently funny. If they taught economics this way in school, more people would take the course. ...
       Continue reading "Freakonomics"

Virtual Bookstores

For at least a decade, we have been bemoaning the loss of small, independent booksellers. These neighborhood stores have fallen victim to the behemoths: Borders, Barnes & Noble, and, to some extent, Amazon. (For a while, Crown Books was a big player too, but then it vanished from the scene).

I am hopeful, however, that this trend has not affected used bookstores. If anything, I think the rise of the Internet may be bringing them more business than ever before. From services such as Half.com and Alibris, to the Used & Out of Print booksellers networks run by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, I have instant access to hundreds (if not thousands) of used book shops from my desk. ...
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Recommending Lawrence Block

Is This Supposed to be A Positive Recommendation?

Die-hard Block fans who have read every title in his Matthew Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr series will cheer the return of Evan Tanner, the globe-trotting, adventurous insomniac... readers will enjoy Block's trademark humor and comic characters".

— Library Journal

This seems a bit offputting to me. ...
       Continue reading "Recommending Lawrence Block"

Short Stories

The Most Dangerous Game. Leiningen versus the Ants. The Open Window. Lamb to the Slaughter. The Gift of the Magi. The Tell-tale Heart.

Short stories. More than that, excellent short stories. I remember each of these well. I read some of them in school, others before or since. Each left a clear memory.

It takes a special gift to write a good short story — to include characterization, plot, conflict, and resolution in such a small space and to do it well. Some authors, such as O. Henry, specialized in this format.

Fewer and fewer people these days read short stories. This is unfortunate--so few will ever experience the joy that reading such fine work can give. The goal of this site is to give a nice cross section of short stories in the hope that these short stories will excite these people into rediscovering this excellent source of entertainment.

[from classicshorts.com]

Animusic 2

Although perhaps not as entrancing as its predecessor, Animusic 2 (available on DVD) is still worth watching. ...
       Continue reading "Animusic 2"

Turing Hopper

Turing Hopper is the somewhat unusual protagonist in Donna Andrew's "techno-cozy" mystery series (three books currently in paperback; one in hardcover). Named after Alan Turing and Grace Hopper, Turing is an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP), one of many created for the Universal Library (a knowledge corporation that is digitizing the world's libraries). Turing, however, differs from the other AIPs. She is the first of her kind to achieve sentience. At least, she thinks she has. ...
       Continue reading "Turing Hopper"

Daisy Dalrymple

Turn back the clock to January, 1923...

The Hon. Daisy Dalyrymple, daughter of a viscount, is a working girl, living in London's bohemian Chelsea district (much to her mother's expressed chagrin). Her father perished in the 'flu epidemic; her brother was killed in the trenches during the war. A distant cousin has inherited the title and the estate. Daisy is on her own, living frugally, just making ends meet thanks to a small inheritance and her new writing job. ...
       Continue reading "Daisy Dalrymple"

A real page-turner

I really have seldom enjoyed a book so much ...
I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

[back-cover recommendation quote for a book I'm currently reading]

I've often heard good books described as "real page-turners". I don't feel that way at all. ...
       Continue reading "A real page-turner"

Keeping the Stories Straight

Has nobody ever told some authors about the Suspension of Disbelief? That is, the willingness of the reader to believe, for the duration of a novel or play, that the story and characters are real. It usually works, unless something goes wrong. For example, something as simple as a name. ...
       Continue reading "Keeping the Stories Straight"

After Dark, After Glow

Romance author Jayne Ann Krentz (writing as Jayne Castle) has created a pair of delightful future-fantasy mystery romance novels: After Dark and its sequel, After Glow. Set on the far-away planet of Harmony, the books feature Lydia Smith, para-archaeologist, Emmet London (Lydia's first consulting client and a man of some mystery), and Fuzz, a dust-bunny (a small, intelligent, predatory animal, native to Harmony). ...
       Continue reading "After Dark, After Glow"

The Tipping Point

What caused Hush Puppies shoes to go from all but dead (30,000 pairs sold per year by early 1994) to a "best seller" (over a million pairs in 1996)? What caused New York City's crime rate to drop by two-thirds in five years? What made Sesame Street such a success with teaching pre-schoolers? And why was Blue's Clues even more successful?

"The Tipping Point is the biography of an idea, and the idea os very simple. It is that the best way to understand the emergence of fashion trends, the ebb and flow of crime waves, or, for that matter, the transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth, or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do."

[from the Introduction to The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, 2002]

Two By Kasey Michaels

There are many books on the shelves. Many writers create plots and fictional characters to enact those plots.

There are fewer true Stories. In the hands of the best Authors, you have a sense of being in a another, very real, world. The characters come alive; you feel that you know them. The dialog sparkles. These events happened. You hate to see the end.

Kasey Michaels is such an author.

We have recently finished two of Kasey's latest Regency-period romances. If you enjoy historical fiction, romantic comedy, warm and wonderful characters, snappy dialog, and lots of laughter, try these. (Warning: Each book contains two or three pages of "obligatory soft-core" descriptive passages, not suitable for minors. Feel free to skip these if they're not your cup of tea.) ...
       Continue reading "Two By Kasey Michaels"

Getting Things Done

Q & A

On Intelligence

Are you interested in how the mind works? So is Jeff Hawkins (of Palm OS fame) and he's written a very interesting book about it. Read my review and followup essay.

50 thousand words in only 30 days?

Did you ever think you wanted to write a novel? Has it always sounded like something that would take too much time? How about 175 pages in one month?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Bet Me

Jennifer Crusie has done it again. Bet Me is as fun to read as Faking It (although I think I'm slightly more fond of Davey Dempsey). Once again, the dialogue sparkles, the descriptions are snappy and well-put, and the people are real. You'd recognize everyone if you met them.

Minerva Dobbs (her mother wanted a goddess) is an actuary. She knows all the odds. Calvin Morrissey also knows the odds. He's a betting man but not a gambler (gamblers loses 50% of the time). Cal never loses a bet.

When Min's ex-boyfriend bets Cal he can't "get her out of that gray checked suit in a month" and Min overhears just enough to be dangerous (but not quite enough to know the full story), the plot gets rolling. Over the ensuing weeks, we meet Cal's 8-year old nephew, Harrison (Harry), Min's soon-to-be-married sister Diana, Min's and Cal's scheming exes, and an assortment of family and friends on both sides. On the way to the happy ending, Fate takes a hand, tossing in a stray cat, Krispy Kreme donuts, kid's baseball, Chicken Marsala, and lot of carbs.

This was a book I hated to see end. Spouse and self both enjoyed it immensely. If you like snappy writing, great characters, and a fun plot in the setting of a contemporary "romantic comedy" — read this book.

Murder Off Mike

Murder Off Mike is a first novel by Joyce Krieg. I hope it will be only the first in a long series.

The mystery, set in Sacramento, CA, introduces Shauna J. Bogart, the on-air pseudonym of Sacramento Talk Radio's first full-time female talk-show host. Shauna loves her job, adores her boss, and enjoys her co-workers at the station, including "Dr. Hipster", her mentor and long-time friend. When Dr. Hipster is killed, she's naturally upset. The police say suicide but one of Shauna J's callers says it was murder and he was an eyewitness. Now it's up to Shauna J. to uncover the truth.

Murder Off Mike won the 2002 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic contest for Best First Traditional Mystery. The characters are well drawn; the plot line held my interest.

I was especially pleased that Shauna J. was, if anything, a little over-cautious. Unlike so many murder mystery heroines, she doesn't trust anyone easily once she realizes something fishy is going on. Her suspicions include her co-workers, the boss's son, the candidates for governor, her apartment complex's security guards and even the local police department (Sac Pee Dee). In a murder mystery, that sort of caution can save your life.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, Slip Cue, coming "soon" from St. Martin's Press.

Eat Cake

Ruth Hopson is the star and first-person narrator of Eat Cake, a novel by Jeanne Ray. Ever since she was five years old, Ruth has had a special relationship with cake. At this point in her life, with husband, teenage daughter, and mother all living in the house (her 20-year-old son is off at college), Ruth bakes a cake whenever the stresses of life begin to get to her. When life gets difficult, Ruth loses herself in cake. ...
       Continue reading "Eat Cake"

Animusic

Animusic is for anyone who appreciates rich, beautifully rendered, 3-D computer graphics. Animusic is for anyone who has ever played in a band or orchestra. Animusic is for anyone who appreciates music and who enjoys watching music being played.

If you generally listen to music with your eyes closed, open them for Animusic or you'll miss most of what makes this album special. ...
       Continue reading "Animusic"

Here's to "Down with Love"

Are you a fan of Rock Hudson & Doris Day? Do you miss the romantic comedies from the sixties? The ones with Tony Randall as the "best friend"? Do you think "They just don't make movies like that anymore"?

Well, they made one. ...
       Continue reading "Here's to "Down with Love""

Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion

I watched "The Haunted Mansion" tonight. As a friend of ours might say, it's charming. The plot is a little thin but the movie makes up for that in set, costumes, effects, and set.

The movie is based (very loosely) on the Haunted Mansion, one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. It contains many of the elements from the ride - the hitchhiking ghosts are there as is the masked ball, the singing statuary, pictures that move, long dark hallways, a medium inside a glowing crystal ball...

Eddie Murphy stars, but it's really a team effort. The two children have major parts and were likeable. Wallace Shawn (Vizzini in The Princess Bride) has a small part that's perfect for him.

Did I mention the set? The set is gorgeous. The special effects are mild compared to a lot of recent movies, but quite good, especially the disappearing/reappearing ghost effects.

It's worth the rental fee.

Bulletproof Monk

If you like fast-paced action movies, especially if you like fast-paced martial arts action movies where Good triumphs over Evil, you should like Bulletproof Monk. The movies stars Yun-Fat Chow (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as the likeable "Monk without a name" (and this time the hero survives the movie!). ...
       Continue reading "Bulletproof Monk"

Shaolin Soccer

Having purchased the DVD a couple of months ago, we finally watched Shaolin Soccer last night. It was a good night for mindless entertainment.

This is one of those fun, must-see, good bad movies. It's silly, it's inane, it's very funny. The subtitling is pretty bad (which adds to the fun). ...
       Continue reading "Shaolin Soccer"

Discovering Loreena McKennitt

I have been listening to mostlyclassical.com during the day. They play a lot of orchestral pieces, occasional opera bits (Der Felgenfische :-( and, with some regularity, Loreena McKennitt.

The first time I heard one, I thought the piece was lovely. I checked the artist and title and made a note. The second time, I did the same thing and discovered that, again, it was Loreena McKennitt. I've begun to recognize her voice and style in the first few bars. It's Celtic Rennaissance. Her website calls it celtic ecletic. Whatever you call it, I think it's lovely.

Ms McKennitt has her own record label, Quinlan Road, and her music is available for purchase through the website (as well as through other shopping venues). I've ordered most of her CDs. :-)

Try some!

Little Duck with Big Feet

I've fallen in love with Daisy, the Little Duck with Big Feet, and her little brother, Pip. Daisy, Pip, and their friends and relatives appear in a series of books for younger children and adults with a love of whimsy and delicious illustration. Every page of Daisy's adventures is richly painted. I feel like I should be able to reach into the book and smooth Daisy's feathers or skritch Pip on his small feathered head. "Coo!" says Daisy. Look for Daisy's books in the children's section of a bookstore near you! My favorites: Come Along, Daisy; Daisy and the Egg; Quack, Daisy, Quack; Daisy and the Beastie.

Fast Women

Fast Women is another "must read" book by contemporary romance author Jennifer Crusie. You'll feel that the characters are people you know well; you won't like all of them, but then, that's to be expected. The dialog is brisk and fun to read. Riley McKenna, in particular, exhibits a dry sense of humor I really liked. I like Riley a lot. I also like his cousin Gabe and the sisters-in-law: Nell, Suze, and Margie. I don't much like the women's (ex)husbands, but then, I'm not really supposed to. As cads, however, they are expertly well-drawn.

Fast Women is about relationships, embezzlement, dog-napping, adultery, blackmail, "finding" yourself, starting over, ugly business cards, a 20-year-old suicide, 63-year-old office furniture, murder, and sex. Try it. I really liked it. ...
       Continue reading "Fast Women"

Faking It

Faking It, by Jennifer Crusie, combines elements of art forgery, burglary, con artistry, and contemporary romance in a very enjoyable plot. The story line is interesting, the dialog is brisk and funny, and the characters are delightfully loony.

These are the sort of people I like best to meet in books; they're people that I feel like I've gotten to know! When the book ends, I miss them.

The only downside to the book is that it isn't entirely suitable for minors or those with "delicate sensibilites". It does include a small number of sex scenes. If you don't like that sort of thing, you can skip over them; however, I advise you not to. They aren't that explicit (this is not erotica) and they actually do seem to add a bit to the plot (including a few bits of dialog that might not be readily understood if you skip the previous scenes).

Aside from that one, possible, flaw, I loved this book. I was sorry to see it end. If you like smart, interesting, slightly warped characters and fresh, snappy dialog, pick up a copy of Faking It the next time you're in a bookstore. I'm going to pick up a few more of Jennifer Crusie's books. I hope they'll be as much fun to read.

Classical Guitar

For more novel interpretations, there are others to choose from. For example, Gary Van Duser has a splendid recording of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" on his album, "American Finger-Style Guitar". The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet plays J. S. Bach and other Baroque masters on their disc, "For Thy Pleasure". I think this is the first recording of Pachelbel's Canon I have heard for guitar (in this case, the interpretation gets a little "out there" and is entitled "Pachelbel's (Loose) Canon".

The California Guitar Trio plays a wonderful rendition of "Apache", as well as a surprising interpretation of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, on their disc, "invitation". Remember the introductory piece from Fantasia? The one with the orchestra and the colors? That's the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Speaking of Fantasia (my all-time favorite movie :-), find yourself a copy of Stevan Pasero's Nutcracker Suite for Guitar. It's surprisingly different and great fun.

Catch and Release - for Books

Sharing books (anonymously and freely) is the whole point of BookCrossing.

What is BookCrossing, you ask? It's a global book club that crosses time and space. It's a reading group that knows no geographical boundaries. Do you like free books? How about free book clubs?. Well, the books our members leave in the wild are free ... but it's the act of freeing books that points to the heart of BookCrossing.

But BookCrossing isn't just about leaving a book on a park bench for someone else to pick up and read (although it is about that, too!). At BookCrossing.com you'll also find book reviews, recommendations, and reader ratings. Each time a book changes hands, BookCrossing members can leave journal entries telling the world of their experiences.

BookCrossing.com gives you "a simple way to share books with the world, and follow their paths forevermore!" ...
       Continue reading "Catch and Release - for Books"

Childhood Memories, Childhood Books

... Clare Turlay Newberry - one of my all time favorite authors of children's books/illustrator of cats. She wrote and illustrated Pandora, the book from my childhood. ... I finally, after many years, have purchased Pandora and am looking forward to receiving the book. As a child, I wanted Pandora as my cat so much.

From my friend's glowing description, I hunted up a copy of Pandora for myself and am now also a fan of the drawings of Clare Turlay Newberry. Her cats are so real; how could I resist them?

A few days later my friend wrote

[My copy of Pandora] arrived today too. I almost cried when I opened it - like seeing an old friend. I don't remember there being color on the cover! Does yours have the paper cover? This one does. It shows its age - geez almost as old as I am (I was two when it was published)! Let's just say it shows much less wear than I do...

But as I reread Pandora's story...well, you know. Finally getting this book is a small treasure to the little girl that lies within...yes, still there even after 60 years...isn't that amazing?

Imagery

It was September and the colors along the curve of Lake Michigan were ripening. Autumn is metallic here, chrome yellows on the locust trees, planted along the Outer Drive because they can stand the automobile-scented air, bronze oaks on the campus lawns, and brassy yellow maples near the administration buildings. The few trees that stayed green until the leaves fall take on the verdigris color of aged copper. I sometimes think even the concrete paths change color in the fall. They lose the sandy summer look of warmth and become a chilly brushed platinum, sueded but cold.

I enjoy Mystery and Fantasy short-fiction collections and I've become a fan of Barbara D'Amato through these. I finally decided to try her novels and visited quite a few used bookstores (all on the web), to build a complete collection of the Cat Marsala mysteries. The paragraph above is the first paragraph from Hardball (1991).

Wow. That woman can write.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I probably wouldn't like all of the books that author Sara Nelson likes to read; we appear to have very different tastes. But that doesn't stop me from agreeing with, understanding, and liking much of what she has to say in So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. I was especially tickled to see one chapter address the dreaded dilemma of not finishing a book, and that the last chapter discussed "skipping around", something many readers do (but few admit to). ...
       Continue reading "So Many Books, So Little Time"

What Are You Reading?

To read... or not to read?

Under the Tuscan Sun

We're both fans of Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence) and similar sorts of books. This is very much in the same vein. I could almost feel the sunshine and taste the food. I was quite happy, however, to be reading about all the heavy work, rather than helping to haul stones! ...
       Continue reading "Under the Tuscan Sun"

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Welcome to Sherwood! One of my favorite movies, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland), is now available on DVD.

Friday but no Five

If you like the sorts of questions the Friday Five provides, look for these books: The Little Book of Stupid Questions (David Borenicht; publ. Barnes & Noble Books; 1999) and The Big Book of If... (Questions for the Game of Life and Love) (Evelyn McFarlane & James Saywell; publ. Villard; 1995-1997). The latter is a combo volume comprised of three previous books, If, If2, and If3. ...
       Continue reading "Friday but no Five"

Maggie Needs an Alibi

Maggie Kelly is a writer. Six years ago she wrote Historical Romances (with 15 books to date); then her publisher hired a new accountant who fired most of the "mid-list" authors (including Maggie).

Unable to afford a long vacation, Maggie reinvented herself as a Historical Murder Mystery writer and slipped a new pen name past the accountant (with her editor's assistance). She created a dashing series hero, Alexandre Blake, the Viscount Saint Just, along with his stalwart friend and sometime partner, Sterling Balder. Her new books soon hit the New York Times bestseller list and everyone was (reasonably) happy... until several weeks ago. ...
       Continue reading "Maggie Needs an Alibi"

Recommended Reading

We recommend:

• Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels (The Eyre Affair...)

• Lee Harris's Murder in Hell's Kitchen

• Kathy Reich's Forensic Procedurals (Deja Dead...)

Growing up reading

1. What were your favorite childhood stories?
   
2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with [your] children?
   
3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything?
   
4. How old were you when you first learned to read?
   
5. Do you remember the first 'grown-up' book you read? How old were you?

Finding Nemo

There are some darker parts than previous Pixar films (especially the introduction, which evokes memories of Bambi and Dumbo). Although it was important to understand why the main characters were a single fishfather and his son, and to understand the personalities of both, it was still something of a downer beginning.

Nevertheless, the movie perked up after that and moved along, ahem, swimmingly. All the the characters are well actualized and believable. Dorie is fun. Everything seems very real. I thought the seagulls were particularly well defined and very very funny.

Overall a fun movie and worth seeing. Take the kids but see it for yourself too. See it in a theatre; it's worth the large screen experience. Stay through the credits; they're entertaining.

Romeo and Juliet

Nice dancing though. Very balletic. Fancy edition of the DVD complete with screenplay and photographs.

Movie Review: Widows

Violence: Especially at the beginning, mostly implied Rating: PG-13 (I'm not sure how it missed R, though)

Movie review: Who is Cletis Tout?

Violence: Mostly to those who deserve it Humor: subtle Rated R

Movie Review: Ballistic

Violence: Only to those who really deserve it Rated R

If you like action movies and have not seen Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever - do so. It's quite good. Lots of car chases (but no upset vegetable carts). Set in Vancouver. Lucy Liu is lots of fun to watch. ...
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Booklovers' Mysteries

I don't envy Alex his life, however; it contains far too much danger and intrigue! As is so often the case in stories like this, the protagonist keeps getting into trouble with politics, enemies, danger, and dead bodies all around :) A bit unusual, however, for this style of "cozy" mystery series, is that Alex is frequently the initial target of the trouble (usually the "detective" trips over a mystery or a body and is gradually snared).

The books are interesting as well as informative; the characters are real and likable. The series so far, in order: Unsolicited, followed by Unbound, Unprintable, Untitled, Unsigned, and Uncatalogued.

Footnote:
A small chuckle of interest especially to computer people: I looked up the series on Barnes&Noble online (to recommend to a friend) and was interested, then amused, to discover that the 4th book was mis-"shelved" in their online data base, under the "title" A Booklover's Mystery. Given that actual title is, erm, Untitled, I think B&N has a small bug in their database design :-)

Daniel Pinkwater

Eat Pudding.