Friday, July 17, 2009

Another Variety Pack With a Recycled Title

DVD

Reno 911!: the complete sixth season starring [actors]. I like this show. The movie version was on tv the other day. They have a scene filmed in a library.

Doc Martin: season one and season two. "Brilliant but socially awkward and neurotic Doc Martin develops an aversion to blood, abandons his career as a celebrated London surgeon and becomes the only doctor in a sleepy small town where his tactless manner soon has everyone in an uproar." Recommended by Maury from the Mens Book Club.

Large Print

Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz. Nick Horrigan is grabbed by a SWAT team and taken to a nuclear plant where a terrorist demands to speak to Nick. Nick has no idea who the guy is.

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert. Blah.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Young Irish woman in the 1950s leaves for work in Brooklyn. She has a tough transition, learns to like it, and then has to head back to Ireland.

NonFiction

Get Cooking by Sam Stearns. Kid cook does book.

AudioBooks

One Step Behind by Helen Mankell. Swedish murder mystery.

Two-Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale. Hap and Leonard search for Leonard's missing lawyer, Florida. Florida was investigating the jailhouse death of a bluesman's son in the "Klan-infested East Texas town of Grovetown."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I Missed a Stack of Fiction

Fiction

Undone by Karin Slaughter. I was making fun of Slaughter's name the other day when my wife was reading one of her books. Suspenseful murder mystery in Georgia with a trauma doctor and some cops.

Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini. Defense attorney Paul Madriani defends a woman against murder in a case that involves secrets from the Cold War and priceless gold coins.
I listened to a Martini novel where some bad cops were setting up Madriani. There is a great get-even point where a bad cop is burglarizing Madriani's home and Madriani whacks the dude across the face with a club.

The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock. The Hellers escape from the dirty, filthy, stinking, rotten Nazis and move to Illinois. Once the war starts someone starts spreading rumors about the Heller family and the eldest daughter, now a newspaper reporter, tries to find out who is at fault.

Get Real by Donald Westlake. A comedic mystery by the recently deceased Westlake. Dortmunder and his burglary crew are followed by cameras from a reality tv show.

Fire and Ice by J.A. Jance. I already wrote that story about Jance at the Phoenix Public Library with the frozen Dove bars. I read yesterday that Phoenix PL has taken a major budget hit. They have tons of dough for capital projects like new branches and renovations, but they cannot spend that capital money on operating expenses.

Words

NonFiction

The Word Snoop: a wild and witty tour of the English language by Ursula Dubosarsky. A fun book on words, the history of the written word, and misuse of words. This whole freaking blog is a misuse of words.

Large Print

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner. Hot chick on the cover.

A Rogue of My Own by Johanna Lindsey. Hot chick on the cover.

Burn by Linda Howard. Hot chick on the cover.

The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles. River bridge on the cover.

There's Something About St. Tropez by Elizabeth Adler. Hot chick on the cover.

Knock Out by Catherine Coulter. Lincoln Monument on the cover.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

James Lee Burke and Some Large Print with Plot Guesses

Fiction

Rain Gods by James Lee Burke. Hackleberry Holland has taken the job as town sheriff on the Texas-Mexican border. The mass grave of nine illegal immigrants is found behind a local church and Hack investigates the murder. Meanwhile, some dude and his dudette are being hunted by paid killers who think dude and dudette have information about the murders.

The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson. "A tattoo shop mystery" Tattoo artist Brett makes an appointment to ink a girl's arm with her fiance's name. The girl never shows and Brett receives a visit from the cops asking about her. Brett ends up searching Las Vegas on the case.

The cover on this was really well done - the author posted an image online a few months ago - but the small size of the paperback takes away from it.

Suite 606 by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas. Short stories with ghosts, deception, lovers apart for years, pounding storm, twist of fate, mother and son lost in the threads of history, impaired wizard, ritualistic murder, etc.

Large Print with Guesses on Plot

Summer House by Nancy Thayer. My guess: Widow in her sixties returns to summer house with mixed feelings and meets a handsome new neighbor. Love ensues amidst her guilt on stepping out on the dead husband. With sex.

The Increment by David Ignatius. My guess: Tourist gets caught in the blood feuds of an old Italian village. With hot Italian girl sex.

Tempted by His Kiss by Tracy Ann Warren. My guess: Regency romance. With discrete sex.

The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham. My guess: Laughter and champaign as young bride juggles wedding plans, pushy parents, ex-paramours, and a disinterested groom. With fears of infidelity sex.

Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver. My guess: a serial killer specializes in vehicular homicide and staged auto "accidents". With cop and victim sex.

Monday, July 13, 2009

What to Read 27: Tom Piccirilli's "The Coldest Mile"

What to Read 27: Tom Piccirilli's The Coldest Mile. A continuation of the story told in The Cold Spot.


Four Audiobooks, Elvis Costello, Morrisey, Chesterfield Kings, others

Music CDs

Only by Night by the Kings of Leon. Limeys love Leon.

(Older tune.)


Years of Refusal by Morrissey. Embedding was disabled. Here is a link.

Relapse by Eminem. Rap music.

Secret, Profane and Sugarcane by Elvis Costello.

(Another old one.)



Living Thing by Peter, Bjorn and John. I have no idea about these dudes but they seem to sell records and dislike razors.

Psychedelic Sunrise by The Chesterfield Kings. Another favorite of Little Steven and his Underground Garage. [Independent thought, what's that?]





21st Century Breakdown by Green Day. I'm just not seeing it anymore with these guys. I'll try listening to the album but I don't expect much from it.

Wait for Me by Moby. Bald guy plays more keyboards and eats vegetables.

My Turn by Tanya Tucker. Wasn't Tucker a pill popping sex machine in the '80s? I read that somewhere.

Jazz in the Garden by The Stanley Clark Trio with Hiromi and Lenny White. I first heard of Clarke was when he teamed up with Stuart Copeland and a girl singer to make Animal Logic.





Led Zeppelin II
by Led Zeppelin. The last disc cracked so I replaced it.

Chickenfoot by Chickenfoot. "Super group" with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, and Michael Anthony.

DVD

Marvelous Machines! Military C-5 Galaxy and C-130 Hercules. "Learn about the exciting world of military aircraft up close..from high flotation landing gear to the massive turbofan engines." This was meant for the kids' collection in the basement but landed in adult DVD. We'll see how it goes and move it down if there are no takers. Not that there is any more room for additional kids DVDs. That space is packed full.

Audiobooks

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer. 10 CDs at 12 hours. "Milo is drawn into a conspiracy that links riots in the Sudan, an assassin committing suicide, and an old friend who's been accused of selling secrets to the Chinese."

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith. 10 Cds at 11 hours. The Soviet Union in 1956 is politically fracturing after the death of Stalin. Former state security cop Leo is being hunted by revenge for Leo's past eagerness at work. I read this book's predecessor, Child 44, and it was fairly decent.

Loser's Town by Daniel Depp. Hollywood P.I. is hired to protect actor from a blackmail scheme by a gangster with aspirations of being a movie producer. Depp got a lot of early press for this novel because he is Johnny Depp's older brother. The book is supposed to be good.

The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles. Penn is the new mayor of Natchez, MS and has taken the job to help change things. Penn learns that one of the town's casino riverboats has been pulling in high rollers with blood sport. Penn has to go up agains the big money and the Natchez locals who get a share.

Sunday, July 12, 2009