Friday, February 20, 2009

The Bill Crider Edition: Sheriff Dan Rhodes and Paris Hilton

Fiction

Murder in Four Parts by Bill Crider. Sheriff Dan Rhodes of Blacklin County, TX is fairly easy going. He has to be to put up with the local idiots and blowhards. Now Rhodes has another murder investigation complicated by a rogue alligator, a dog food thief, and barbershop quartets.

Night and Day by Robert B. Parker. Another Jesse Stone novel. Police Chief Stone investigates accusations against the local middle school principal and tries to catch a voyeur who has turned into an aggressive home invader.
There is no doubt that Parker is a great writer. But, why not wait for a movie version with Tom Selleck? Those have been dang good as well. We have all or most of those movies here at the Library on DVD. Either way, you win.

One Day at a Time by Danielle Steel. Does Steel use ghostwriters?

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb. Eve Dallas investigates a a fellow New York policewoman's murder.

NonFiction

Six Degrees of Paris Hilton: inside the sex tapes, scandals, and shakedowns of the new Hollywood by Mark Ebner. From the cover: The shocking true tale of Darnell Riley, a well-mannered middle-class kid from Los Angeles who reinvented himself as a stone-cold gangster in the boxing gyms and bruising streets of Sotuh Central, before serving seven years for a double homicide at fifteen. Released at age twenty-three, he infiltrated a far more decadent crowd whose privileged lifestyle is familiar to most only in weekly magazines. During his six-year stab at Hollywood, Darnell ran with it It girls and bully boys: He befriended Paris Hilton; was associated with multiple sex tapes; held Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis at gunpoint and humiliated him on camera; dated models; ran numbers; trafficked in drugs; carried out contract beatings; and 'possibly' staged a daring series of home-invasion robberies, many of which were attributed to the infamous Bel-Air Burglar.

The Wicked Wit of the West
by Irving Brecher and Hank Rosenfeld. Brecher wrote TWO Marx Brothers films, wrote for Milton Berle, "punched up The Wizard of Oz", created The Life of Riley, wrote Bye Bye Birdie, gave Jackie Gleason his first tv series.
Brecher says, "I don't like to quote myself but unfortunately everybody I know who should be quoting me is dead."

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What to Read 20, Interview With Emily Maguire

Emily Maguire is the author of Taming the Beast. Ms. Maguire's other work has not yet been published in the U.S. but the UK and Australian editions are available online.

This has been edited to fit YouTube's ten minute time limit.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Three Mysteries and One Greeley

Fiction

Irish Weed by Andrew M. Greeley.

Whisper to the Blood by Dana Stabenow. "A Kate Shugak novel."

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear. "A Maisie Dobbs novel."

Death of a Witch by M.C. Beaton. "A Hamish Macbeth mystery."

Monday, February 16, 2009

Four Films

DVD

Frozen River starring Some Lady Who Got An Oscar Nomination. Poor single mom in rural New York State works with single Mohawk mom in Ontario to run illegal immigrants over from Canada.

Nights in Rodanthe starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. Chick movie with single dude Gere and divorced mom Lane hooking up at some resort.

Miracle at St. Anna starring Derek Luke. Black soldiers in World War II.
Please tell me, why don't some people learn when to shut up? Talk, talk, talk, talk. I'm trying to get work done and do not have the time to chat all afternoon.

W. starring Josh Brolin and others. Looks like Thandie Newton plays Condaleeza Rice - there must be a 20 or 30 year age difference there. Richard Dreyfuss as Darth Vader - that could be real good. I'm guessing James Cromwell is George, Sr. - I can see that too. Scott Glenn as Rumsfeld - that could be a stretch.