Thursday, December 30, 2010

DVD and Music on CD

DVD

Across 110th St. starring Yaphet Kotto and Anthony Quinn. 1970's blaxploitation with NYC cops trying to stop a gang war between the mob and gangs in Harlem. Another result of my listening to too much of Little Steven's Underground Garage.

Music on Cd

Nothing Like This by Rascal Flatts. I have no knowledge of these guys aside from what I see from the cover photo. Judging by that photo they like necklaces and black clothes.

Write About Love by Belle and Sebastian. Get a modern haircut, put on a sweater, and sit in a coffee shop looking pensive as you listen. Don't let your irrational fear of the Scottish keep you away. I like them (older tune with video containing odd Teddy Boy references).



What? You don't have a fear of the Scottish? Then you better start reading Allan Guthrie novels.

Audiobook on CD

America by Heart by Sarah Palin. 6 CDs at 7.25 hours. Be nice.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Two Books, A Reminder, An Observation

Fiction

Confession by John Grisham. Someone donated a copy to us. I'm adding the copy since there are currently 229 holds for the book.

NonFiction

Kellogg's Cookbook: 200 classic recipes for today's kitchen edited by Judith Choate. Recipes.

Reminder

Len Price 3




Observation

Relative Populations of New Zealand and Wisconsin. Wisconsin has 5,600,00 people. NZ has 4,300,000. That's a lot of hobbits. Hopefully that second earthquake did not damage the shire too badly. I read that a brewery was damaged in the first one.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

DVD and Snow

DVD

Make Believe Shooting

The Town starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Chris Cooper, Pete Postlethwait. Boston bank robbers are pursued by the FBI and Boston police with lots people shooting blanks at one another.

Real Shooting

Restrepo starring [Multiple infantrymen]. 15-man outpost in Afghanistan.

Make Believe Make Believe

Inception starring [a big cast]. Lots of CGI and a confusing plot. Or so I gather from commercials and comments.

Snow

Every time it snows I take a picture. Later this year I'll walk out on the lake and take some photos.

More snow

More snow

Monday, December 20, 2010

New Nook

New Nook

I purchased Barnes and Noble Nook for the library to try out. I'll get some titles on the Nook and let it circulate (check-out).


New Nook to try out at the library

New Nook to try out at the library

Star Wars Artwork

NonFiction

Star Wars Visions edited by J.W. Rinzler. Coffee table book with fan artwork.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Crocodiles Eating Vampires

Fiction

Crocodile's Last Embrace by Suzanne Arruda. I'll bet Crider already ordered this one. Jade returns to Kenya. Jade's nemesis escapes prison and recent murders seem related to a gold mine. I think Arruda still lives in Kansas. If I am feeling ambitious during next summer's vacation maybe I'll try and interview her. Oops, no I will not, she lives in Pittsburgh and that is 180 miles away.

Speaking of Crider and Kansas, I am hoping to check-out his westerns from the Salina Public Library during vacation.

DVD

Eclipse starring [current heart throbs]. Teenage girl makes out with a vampire and a werewolf. I think. I have not read these novels and I have no idea what really happens outside of a bunch of angst and that one guy taking his shirt off.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Fiction and Some YA Thrown In

Fiction

Driven to Ink by Karen E. Olson. Mystery series set Las Vegas tattoo shop featuring tattooist Brett Kavanaugh. Brett loans her car to a couple friends and they return the car with a Dean martin impersonator in the trunk. The impersonator is dead of course.

This series has done well here. So well that someone STOLE the second book in the series.

Book on CD

Worth Dying For by Lee Child. 11 CDs at 14 hours. Jack Reacher gets into trouble. Again. Jack Reacher solves the trouble. Again.

Young Adult

Mindblind by Jennifer Roy. Novel about a teen with Asperbergers.

Wish by Joseph Monninger. Redheaded teen girl holding her nose underwater. Girl travels with her terminally ill brother on a Make-A-Wish foundation trip.

Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan. Some sort of magicians or demons or vampires or something.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Comic book version of the novel.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Outdoor Ice Rink in Commons Park

Outdoor Ice Rink in Commons Park

The rink had it's first layer of water sprayed on this morning.


Commons Park, Outdoor Ice Rink, 15 Dec 2010

The ice surface is still bumpy and uneven. There is no zamboni machine.

Commons Park, Outdoor Ice Rink, 15 Dec 2010

Coffee and Cake Update

Cake

Carolyn made more cake.

Some sort of cake

Coffee

No creamer in the coffee I made. I went to the bakery this morning and that coffee did have creamer.

Coffee, no creamer

Music on CD

Essential Simon and Garfunkel by Simon and Garfunkel. Two CDs of singers singing songs of silence.

Large Print

Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell. Murder mystery.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Mysteries With New and Old Authors

New Authors (to Lake Mills)

The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson. Lily comes home to deal with her sister's suicide. The dead girl is not her sister but a identity thief and Lily's sister is missing. This novel has gotten a fair amount of online attention by various authors.

Double Exposure by Michael Lister. Lister was at Murder and Mayhem in Muskego and spoke earnestly about his love of Florida. His speaking convinced me to try one out. This one has Remington James returning home to North Florida and taking over the family business. Rem also returns to photography and discovers a crime through his time lapse photography from the local woods.

Body and the Blood by Michael Lister. Prison chaplain John Jordan witnesses a bizarre murder at work. He investigates.

The Insane Train by Sheldon Russell. "A Hook Runyon Mystery". Oh yeah, this sounded like a real good one. Hook Runyon, a railroad company "yard dog", is assigned to escort a train full of mental patients cross country in the late 1940's. A murder on the train has the aggressive Hook on the search for the killer.

Old Authors

Innocent Monster by Reed Farrel Coleman. Another Moe Prager mystery.

On The Line by S.J. Rozan.

Labrynth by Kat Richardson. This had a great review in either Library Journal or Booklist.

Stack of Fiction

Fiction

Collusion by Stuart Neville. With a name like that this guy has to be English. Let me check...Nope, I was wrong. He is Irish. But, he is Northern Irish and I'll judge by the name he is orange.
Neville wrote Ghosts of Belfast which proved popular here in Lake Mills. I have yet to read Ghosts but want to.

The Network by Jason Elliot. British spy assigned to destroy Stinger missiles in Afghanistan in pre-9/11.

Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander. Alexander is a nice lady. Her other novels have been doing well here since I started buying them. Lady Emily continues her mid-1800s adventures with a murder mystery in London that may be linked to Jack the Ripper.

Ape House by Sara Gruen. Gruen is popular with the book club crowd.

Fatal Error by F. Paul Wilson. I sat next to Wilson during lunch at Murder and Mayhem in Muskego this fall. He is a good dude. Fatal is part of his Repairman Jack series. Wilson mentioned that a couple of his books have never gone out of print. One of those is The Keep (at least that is what I remember.). Wilson was of the correct opinion that the movie version of The Keep stunk.

The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead. "A Bright Empires" novel. The plot description on the flyleaf is way too confusing to summarize here.

Power Down by Ben Coes. Former commando is out to get the terrorists who bombed the oil platform he managed and killed part of his crew.

Dead Or Alive by Tom Clancy. Latest Jack Ryan and Jack Ryan, Jr. novel.

Demon's Parchment by Jeri Westerson. "A Medieval Noir". I bought the last book in this series because of the Medieval Noir tagline. That book circ'ed well so I bought this one.

Snow Day by Billy Coffey. Literary type novel.

Dang it. Too Much Creamer in my Coffee

Coffee

Too Much Creamer


NonFiction

How to Read a Person Like a Book: observing body language to know what people are thinking by Gerard I. Nierenberg, et al. We have some other body language books that have checked out real well. So, I bought this.

200 Tips for De-Cluttering: room by room, including outdoor spaces, and eco tips by Daniela Santos Quartino. Popular topic. Maybe the author addresses excessive book hoarding of old paperbacks.

Monday, December 13, 2010

A Stack of Donated CDs and A Complaint About the Weather Forecast

Complaint About the Weather Forecast

-40° With Wind says The Weather Reports. Baloney. I bundled up expecting a wicked cold morning walk to work. Nope. It's only about -2° with the wind.

Stack of Donated CDs

As Time Goes by by Rod Stewart. Rock singer gets old and sings old songs.

Live 1964 by Bob Dylan. Two disc set of Dyland singing songs in concert before he went electric.

Best of James Taylor by James Taylor. Singer sings songs before he goes bald.

Greatest Hits, Volume 2 by James Taylor. Bald singer sings songs.

Surprise by Paul Simon. Short guy sings songs.

You're the One by Paul Simon. Princess Leia's ex-husband sings songs.

Paul Simon's Concert in the Park by Paul Simon. 1991 concert by song singer.

Celtic Woman by [Irish chicks]. Irish gals sing songs. Our previous copy was STOLEN!

Monty Python's Spamalot by Broadway Cast. Funny Songs sung by mildly funny actors.

Time Out by Dave Brubeck. No singing.

A Windham Hill Christmas II by [various]. Songs by herald angels.

A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. Siren song of heroin.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Shiftless Loser by Gischler and Wisconsin Infantry

Book on CD

Earthbound by Richard Matheson. 6 CDs at 6.5 hours. Horror novel set during a couple's second honeymoon. Read by Bronson Pinchot who co-starred in that awful, awful buddy sitcom.

Fiction

The Deputy by Victor Gischler. Shiftless loser gets job as part time cop in small town Oklahoma. Trouble happens. More trouble happens. Extra trouble happens. This is a Gischler novel so you know it is a good novel with plenty of humor, action scenes, and neat (and neatly drawn) characters.
I liked the female deputy character in this. She does not appear often but is just as much a fish out of water as Shiftless Loser. Shiftless Loser is out of his depth as a mostly inept buffoon. Girl Deputy is too competent and skilled to fit into the backwater police department.

The Deputy by Victor Gischler. Because I screwed up and ordered both a hardcover and paperback. Gischler was very nice and tolerated me quite well during the Murder and Mayhem in Muskego thing.

NonFiction

Red Arrow in the Sand: a pictorial history of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Iraq 2009-2010 by [no author/editor listed]. Kind of like a yearbook, but with guns and armored trucks.

Large Print

Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord.

Soloman's Oak by Jo-Ann Mapson.

Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler. Same cover as the regular print.

Templar Salvation by Raymong Khoury. I thought templar novels were played out. I suppose this series is still alive.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Musical Interlude

Musical Interlude

I heard this song by Phosphorescent on 6 Music earlier this morning. For some reason it reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Coffee and Snow

Coffee...

...with cake

Coffee and cake

Library Building

Snow expected this afternoon and most of the evening.

Snow on 9 Dec 2010

Ice Rink in Commons Park

The rink is not ready yet. The grass was cleared off and the wooden frame installed.

Outdoor ice rink in Commons Park is not yet ready

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Local Interest, Popular Fiction, "What's Up Down There?"

DVD

Beyond the Prairie starring Richard Thomas, Meredith Monroe. Two movies on one DVD portraying Wilder as a teenaged girl on the prairie.

Fiction

Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell. Does she write her own books any more? Or, does she hire ghost writers? I wonder this about many writers.

Rescue by Anita Shreve. Love affair and marriage between paramedic and young lady.

Of Love and Eden by Alice Rice. "Haunting new novel, a metaphysical thriller of angels and assassins that once again summons up dark and dangerous worlds set in times past."

NonFiction

What's Up Down There by Lissa Rankin, M.D. "Questions you'd only ask your gynecologist if she was your best friend." Straightforward information for private questions. Recommended by Christa Faust.

Legendary Ghost Stories of Lake Mills by Jill Nadeu et al, (bunch of local residents). Ghost stories and accompanying photos.

Large Print

Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann.

Distant Hours by Kate Morton.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith. Picture of puppy on the cover.

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas. Recreational sailboats decorated with their masts decorated with lights.

American Assassin by Vince Flynn. Patriotic themed shootin' and killin'.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Winter is Near

Rock Lake

Rock Lake is starting to ice over. Taken at Bartles Beach Park. Overhead view.

Rock Lake is starting to ice over

Library Building

The Library is decorated.

Dec 3, 2010

History of the AK and the NBA

NonFiction

Basketball's Greatest Stars by Michael Grange. Profiles of 50 stars basketball including pre-NBA. Many color photos.

The Gun by C.J. Chivers. "In a searing examination of modern conflict and official folly...mixes meticulous historical research, investigative reporting, and battlefield reportage to illuminate the origins of the world's most abundant firearm and the consequences of its spread."

The photo section has a picture with a rifle stock decorated with a photo of two women. The caption reads: Among those who use them, assault rifles can be intensely personal objects or symbols with many meanings. In 2009, an Afghan National Army soldier ... decorated his Kalashnikov with unveiled images of women - a seeming rebuke to the Taliban.

I was in a gun store in Scottsdale, Bear Arms, a few years ago and looking through the used and army surplus rifles they had. They was an old SKS there with a photo lacquered onto the stock of one of the actresses from the 90210 television series.

Plastic Discs With A Reflective Surface That When Used in the Proper Machinery Will Provide Data That is Digitally Translated Into Sounds and Images

DVD

Eat, Pray, Love starring [famous woman] and [Spaniard]. Sit, Drift, Sleep.

Flipped starring Aidan Quinn, Bald Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney. Coming of age romance following boy and girl from second grade through middle school.



Grown Ups starring Adam Sandler. Childhood buddies get together for a weekend as adults. According to the back cover: someone gets shot with an arrow, a chubby guy swings on a rope, they wear matching shirts, they go on a water slide, their wives and girlfriends are too attractive to be attached to them.

The Expendables starring [many people]. Shooting. Explosions. Fighting. Fire balls. Airplanes. Sleeveless shirts.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Music on CD

Music on CD

Funstyle by Liz Phair. I still like Phair, so there. I am not sure if this CD is any good though.

Listen to some tunes online.

Printed Words on Papers That Are Bound Together and Sold

Big Author Photos on Back Cover

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.

Cross Fire by James Patterson. What, no co-author?

Hells' Corner by David Baldacci.

Fiction

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg. I had a dream the other night about zombies, vampires, and vampire zombies.

Hollywood Hills by Joseph Wambaugh.

A Dead Man's Tale by James D. Doss.

DVD

Sex and the City 2 starring [actors]. I'm betting all those main actresses are not the same height although the box cover pretends otherwise.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring [actors]. I do not remember buying this. Looks like a comedy.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

New DVD, Old DVD, New NonFic, Old Detroit

DVD

Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig. This is a replacement for a disc that went missing. I always think the actress who stars in this looks like a former library Page.

Doctor Who: the complete fifth series starring [English]. Doctor Who travels across time and the universe but somehow, somehow, always ends up in contemporary England.

Weeds: season five starring [I don't know. No names on the box.] Someone online pointed out that the corset wearing actress on the box cover is wearing the corset upside down.

NonFiction

Life by Keith Richards. You already heard about this one.

Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: tales of redemption from an Irish mailbox by Greg Fitzsimmons. Funny book.

Wolf: the lives of Jack London by James L. Haley. Boy, was London a mess.

Small Gas Engine Repair by Paul Dempsey. An updated version of a book that checked out so much it was falling apart.

Detroit Disassembled by Andrew Moore. Photos of a decaying and falling apart Detroit. I should shelve this in the travel section. Page 62 has a great catch by Moore of an abandoned public library building with a copy of Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Land that Time Forgot right in the foreground.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Chocolate Things and a Hives Attack

Chocolate Things

Vicki brought these in. I ate three or four.

Chocolate Things


Musical Interlude

Another Attack of the Hives


Big Stack of Baba Booey

Baba Booey

They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate. Ta-ta-ta toothy.

They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate. 6 CDs at 7 hours. Ma-ma-ma monkey.

Fiction

All Jacked Up by Lorelei James. These erotic romances have been checking out.

Young Junius by Seth Harwood. Teenage kid looks for revenge in drug dealing heaven of the projects.

The Prow Beast by Robert Low. Fourth entry in the viking series.

Crescent Dawn by Clive and Dirk Cussler. Judging by the cover illustration some high-tech boat is attacking tankers in the Middle East.

Outwitting Trolls by William G. Taply. Boston novel about the internet.

Large Print

Mothers and Other Liars by Amy Bourret. Cover photo has lady and small child walking through a park and holding umbrellas.

What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman. Missing is what a title word?

NonFiction

Kids Love Wisconsin: your family friendly guide to exploring 'kid-friendly' Wisconsin by George and Michele Zavatsky.

Robert's Rules of Order: newly revised: 10th edition. Latest edition.

Zot!: 1987-1991: the complete black and white collection by Scott McCloud. COmic book compendium.

Wisconsin: an explorer's guide by Mollie Boutell-Butler. I'll skip the local quotes since there are only two.

Hot X: algebra exposed by Danica McKellar. Former actor turned mathematician writes math book for girls.

Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee.

Barefoot Contessa, how easy is that? by Ina Garten. Cookbook.

State Fair: the great Minnesota get-together by Susan Lambert Miller. Did I buy this? Maybe the book was a donation.

In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla. Comic rants and raves in print.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. People from Lake Mills have been getting copies from other libraries so I ordered it.

Helmet For My Pillow: from Parris Island to the Pacific by Robert Leckie. "One of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II."

I'm Not High by Jim Breuer. "But I've got a lot of crazy stories about life as a Goat Boy, a dad, and spiritual warrior."

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the end of America's childhood by Jane Leavey. I hate to break the news to you, Jane, but America's childhood was over a long time before Mantle was around.

Decision Points by George W. Bush. Be nice. No rude comments.

At Home: a short history of private life by Bill Bryson. Humorist writes another book.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Photos and a Musical Interlude

Crullers

There were three crullers in the staff room when I got to work at noon today. Crullers are the greatest donut you can eat. So I ate them.

Crullers

Donations

Someone donated about 180 music CDs.

Donation of Music CDs

Musical Interlude

A couple Joan Armatrading CDs were included in the above box. Included on one CD is this tune.



BBC6 plays music documentaries every night. A few years ago - when I used to listen to frequently listen to BBC6 - BBC6 played a multi-part series on producer George Martin who spoke highly of Armatrading.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Stack of Books With Large Print Stickers, Big Lettering, and Rural Covers


Large Print


Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb. Nora Roberts pretends to be someone else.

Edge by Jeffery Deaver. Remember what I wrote about Deaver before? Yeah, neither do I. I do recall I typed the words "Anthony Neil Smith" and someone - likely Smith - googled their way over here. You know who else googled their way here? Someone searching for "debbie does lake mills". I'll blame that search on Anthony Neil Smith too.

[An aside] Smith runs a fiction magazine entitled Plots with Guns. But, Plots is an online magazine and, even though the selected short stories are supposed to be very solid, I refuse to read stories off a computer screen.

EDIT, 13 November 2010: Once again my humor fell flat and appeared insulting rather than than good-natured ribbing. My apologies to the great and mighty, and recently well-traveled, Anthony Neil Smith. My most enjoyable moment at today's event was sitting with and listening to Smith and Victor Gischler chat.

Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen. Front cover has a kid wearing hooded sweatshirt in the woods. I refuse to say the word "hoodie".

Widower's Tale by Julia Glass. Front cover has guy in his fifties sitting in front a barn and smiling. Does that mean he is happy his wife is dead? Read the book and find out.

Nemesis by Philip Roth. Never read one of his books.

An Unforgettable Lady by J.R. Ward (writing as Jessica Bird). I do not recall anything about either Ward or Bird as an author name.

The Last Talk with Lola Faye by Thomas H. Cook. Photo of rural setting. Open mailbox in foreground.

Bad Blood by John Sandford. Cover has a guy walking to a barn and carrying a length of lumber and a hammer.

Santa in Montana by Janet Daily. Snow covered trees on the cover.

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts. Book four in the Bride Quartet. Cover has kissing couple dressed in wedding clothes.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Musical Interlude

Musical Interlude

Here you go, Dunedin. The most under appreciated Split Enz tune. Best album cover, too.


Thursday, November 04, 2010

You Know What This Place Needs? More Books

Adult Fiction

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane. I think this guy was showing up again at Mystery One in Milwaukee. I just checked the website and, yeah, he is. Murder and Mayhem in Muskego is next weekend too but Lehane is not staying over for that. Some guy called Anthony Neil Smith is will be at Muskego. I'm not sure why he was invited.

EDIT, 13 November 2010: Once again my humor fell flat and appeared insulting rather than than good-natured ribbing. My apologies to the great and mighty, and recently well-traveled, Anthony Neil Smith. My most enjoyable moment at today's event was sitting with and listening to Smith and Victor Gischler chat.

Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb. I think my wife reads some of these Robb books by Nora Roberts.

Edge by Jeffery Deaver. Speaking of Muskego, Jeffery Deaver attended last year. He is a good dude. According to Deaver's author photo he has grown a van Dyke beard. Also according to his author bio he graduated from Mizzou. Considering Deaver's alumni status I'm not sure why my Kansas wife reads his books. This is what I heard all last weekend while my in-laws were visiting and discussing the upcoming Missouri-Nebraska football game, "I'm not sure who I want to lose more. I hate them both."

Non Fiction

The Hilliker Curse: my pursuit of women by James Ellroy. If you did not already know about Ellroy being screwed up here is the prime away to discover it. No photographs or maps. Victor Gischler - praise his Might - once wrote that he thinks all books should contain maps.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Fiction and an Idiot

Fiction

Confession by John Grisham. Guilty man with brain tumor decides to confess so innocent man convicted of murder will not be executed.

Coming Back by Marcia Muller. "A Sharon McCone mystery."

A Christmas Odyssey by Anne Perry. A novel.

Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. Witches or ghosts or something.

NonFiction

Assholes Finish First by Tucker Max. Idiot acts like and idiot and writes stories about idiocy.

Building Code Basics: based on the 2009 International Building Code by Steve Thomas. "Boiler over 15 psi places room in incidental accessory occupancy category."

Monday, November 01, 2010

Musical Interlude

Musical Interlude

Crowded House. Look up the other live and studio versions on your own.


TV on DVD and Things I Have No Interest In

DVD

Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan and Son Of Celebrities. Kid moves to China. Kid gets bet up. Kid learns kung-fu. Kid beats other kid up. Everyone learns valuable lesson.

The Pacific starring [unknown actors]. Marines and Soldiers travel the Pacific to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. Supposed to be very good. I have it on hold.

NonFiction

Fodor's Chicago 2010. Find a restaurant. Find a hotel. Find a museum. Find out how expensive parking is.

Booky Wook 2 by Russell Brand. Crazed former drug addict tells humorous tales.

CrochetWear: 25 fresh designs by Ann Regis. Crazed crocheter tells tales of 6.5mm crochet hooks.

Expressive Drawing: a practical guide to freeing the artist within by Steven Aimone. The freed artist from within tells tales of paint.

Building Code Basics: residential: based on the 2009 International Residential Code by Stephen A. Van Note. Building inspector tells tales of draftstopping.

Building Code Basics: fire: based on the 2009 International Fire Code by Scott Stookey. Compliance expert tells tales of hydrostatic pressure relief valves.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Political Pontification and Other Items

Fiction

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. Who is the weirdest Sedaris sibling? I have no idea. This is sort of like a picture book for adults with animals acting like adults by dating, drinking, cursing, and Secret Santas. I have not read the book yet but I am very sure I will enjoy it when I do.

Naked Heart by Richard Castle. Imaginary author writes imaginary story. Blurb on back is by Stephen J. Cannell who died this past month.

Large Print

Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter. A romance.

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre. Crime and espionage.

Non Fiction

Love, Lust, and Faking It by Jenny McCarthy. "The naked truth about sex, lies, and true romance." Chapters include Boobies: Just Clumps of Fat, STDs: The Gift That Keeps on Giving, Women: The Masters of Manipulation.

Framing Innocence: a mother's photographs, a prosecutor's zeal, and a small town's response by Lynn Powell. Mom drops of photos to be developed. Photos include her eight-year-old daughter in the shower. Prosecutor is informed and charges mom with child porn. Case splits the town.

Operation Dark Heart: spycraft and special ops on the frontlines of Afghanistan - and the path to victory by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer. Afghanistan story that the DOD got into a snit over even though author worked closely with the Army to pass security review.

Pinheads and Patriots: where you stand in the age of Obama by Bill O'Reilly.

Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward.

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.

Eyewitness Travel Chicago by Lorraine Johnson and John Ryan. Another travel guide by DK books. I have to drive down there so I'm going to check this out.

Best Easy Day Hikes Milwaukee by Kevin Revolinski. "Includes detailed maps and concise descriptions for twenty easy-to-follow hikes in and around Milwaukee."

Earth (the book) written and edited by Jon Stewart, et al. Some middle-aged men wore ponytails to prevent the early onset of dignity.

Word 2010 QuickSteps by Marty Matthews. User guide.

America's Test Question: Season Ten. Fours DVDs at 13 hours. "Join Christopher Kimball and the cast of America's Test Kitchen, the most-watched cooking show on public television, to learn the basics of great home cooking."

Monday, October 25, 2010

Ann Voss Peterson Squared, Another AR15 Book

Fiction

A Cop in Her Stocking by Ann Voss Peterson. Local cop helps ex-girlfriend find the lady's missing son.

Large Print

A Cop in Her Stocking by Ann Voss Peterson. I ordered this copy by mistake. The book is not even large print, it is listed as "larger print".

NonFiction

The Traditional Bowyer's Bible: volume three by Tim Baker, et al. Ancient bows (Korea, plains Indians, African styles), custom wooden shafts, stone points, make your own stone aged bow.

Cooking with Curtis by Curtis Stone. Photogenic cook writes a book, uses lots of hair gel, inspects dead rabbits.

Artforms: seventh edition by Duane Preble, et al. What the heck is this? Jim must have added this as a donation.

Green Eyes and Black Rifles: warriors guide to combat carbine by Kyle E. Lamb. Lamb was in the infantry or airborne for several years and wrote this while he was. Lamb has an interesting view on back-up iron sights for an AR. Namely, if it is a back-up sight it therefore is an emergency sight. So why have extra "stuff" like windage and elevation knobs and an extra aperture?

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Three Novels and a Replacement CD

Fiction

Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen. Johansen's back flyleaf bio says she lives near Atlanta. Her hairstyle agrees.

In the Company of Others by Jan Karon. Am I the only one who always mistakenly thinks Jan is a guy? This is a "Father Tim novel".

Worth Dying For by Lee Child. A new Jack Reacher novel. Reacher will wander, find trouble, find a hot chick, find a bad guy, find a violent resolution. I hear Lee Child can snap a man's neck like a twig.

Replacement CD

Appetite for Destruction by Guns n' Roses. Our last one broke. I have never understood the fascination with and popularity of this band.

Musical Interlude

The Clash play a song. CD available at the library.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Gun Book and Richard Thompson CD? How odd. We never get gun books and Thompson CDs.

NonFiction

Gunsmithing the AR-15 by Patrick Sweeney. Maintaining, repairing and accessorizing. I lost some faith in Sweeney after reading some diatribe he included in Big Fat Book of the .45 about how he believes lead exposure dangers has been overblown. But, I still like this book and trust his mechanical knowledge. The photo illustrations are quite helpful. Not that I would know. Not that I have been saving and saving and saving money for an AR.

Music on CD

Dream Attic by Richard Thompson. Live recordings. Thompson will be playing in Milwaukee. Or maybe he played already. I would like to go but do think I will be able to.

DVD

Aldo Leopold at Faville Grove, Recollections of Ado Leopold and Interview with Fram Hamerstorn. "The beginnings of prairie preservation and restoration" which began in the '30s outside Lake Mills. All on the same DVD.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Another Gischler. Does the Man Ever Sleep?

Comic Book Novel

Head Trip: Deadpool: Merc with a mouth by Victor Gischler. Aother one of those comic novels with a guy dressed in tights and wearing a mask. This also has the requisite guys with steroidal muscles and gals with big knockers. Also includes: a blimp, floating zombie head, sandwiches, spaceship, dinosaurs, monsters, and some guy who looks like Tarzan.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Nothing For Me In This Stack

Fiction

Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith. "An Isabel Dalhousie novel."

Busy Body by M.C. Beaton. "An Agatha Raisin mystery." Christmas themed.

Djibouti by Elmore Leonard. Oops. I was wrong above, I would like to read this one. Documentary filmmaker goes to Horn of Africa to make movie about pirates.

Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre. Le Carre also does good work. British vacationers meet a Russian money-launderer in Antigua. Upon return to London the Brit couple is forced to help the British government get the Russian.

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber. Another Christmas novel. This one has a note on the cover, "A Hallmark Channel Original Movie".

Playing the Game by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Model on the cover has been photoshopped to look skinnier.

American Assassin by Vince Flynn. One of those Mitch Rapp novels.

The Brave by Nicholas Evans. Some sort of family secret story with eight-year-old witnessing tragedy and then having trouble as an adult.

Ghost in Trouble by Carolyn Hart. "A mystery."

Large Print

A Nose for Justice by Rita Mae Brown. Mystery with a dog.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A Whole Stack of Fiction

DVD

Killer Inside Me starring Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson. The novel is a cornerstone of noir writing but I don't remember much about the novel except that I did not like it.

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey, Jr. Guy in fancy space suit battles steroid laden actor.

Get Him to the Greek starring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. Music company executive responsible for getting wild living rock star to a concert in Los Angeles. Kind of like My Favorite Year but without Peter O'Toole.




AudioBooks

The Power by Rhonda Byrne. Some sequel to that Secret book.

Fiction

The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter. Set in medieval England. Romance and adventure.

Deja Vu by Fern Michaels. Have I seen this before?

Painted Ladies by Robert B. Parker. The last of the Parker novels finished by Parker? I do not know.

Reversal by Michael Connelly. Another novel featuring Los Angeles attorney Mickey Haller. Defense attorney Haller ends up taking a prosecution job and working with Harry Bosch and Haller's ex-wife to prosecute a child murderer granted a retrial.

Large Print

Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Gunning.

Shadow Zone by Iris Johansen.

Portobello by Ruth Rendell.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok.

As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs.

Don't Cry by Beverly Barton.

Three Stations by Martin Cruz Smith.

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie.

NonFiction

Trickle Up Poverty by Michael Savage.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Two DVD Items, Musical Interlude

DVD

Glee: Season One, Volume Two starring [people]. Second part of the television show's first year.

Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow. Crowe and Ridley Scott are reliable entertainment but I know nothing about this picture.

Musical Interlude

Marshall Crenshaw

Friday, October 01, 2010

Comics, Audio Book, Music on CD, True Crime

Fiction

Prelude to Deadpool Corps by Victor Gischler. Comic book novel. I'll read this sometime later but, for now, I just don't get it. Judging by the cover there is a guy, a gal, and a kid plus a zombie dog and a rotting head (that flies using a beanie cap with propeller). Everyone has a sword, except for the kid who has lightsabers. Are the lightsabers called lightsabers or is that a copyright issue with the Titan of Modesto? Since this is a comic the guy has muscles on muscles and the gal has big bazooms.

Audiobook on CD

Beat by Stephen Jay Scwartz. Okay, now I remember why I ordered this. The hook for this series is that LAPD cop Hayden Glass is a sex addict. Glass's hooker girlfriend is kidnapped and Glass's attempts at rescue put him against the mob, FBI, and San Francisco PD.

NonFiction

Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex by Nina Hartley with I.S. Levine. This is not new but I just had the cataloging fixed. The dang thing was in 619.6. According to this 619 is unassigned so I moved Nina Hartley next to the other sex information books in 613 which is Personal Health & Safety.

Mississippi Mud by Edward Humes. True crime in Biloxi, MS. Adult daughter of murdered couple investigates leads to the Dixie Mafia that the police do not follow.

Music On CD

Charred Walls of the Damned by Charred Walls of the Damned. I figured to try out something from this heavy metal sub-genre to see if it circulates.

A Little Messed Up by The Dollyrots. Fun and loud rock and roll.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

More Romances

Fiction

Shoulda Been A Cowboy by Lorelei James. James' other books have checked out well. Her romances focus on cowboy characters with lots of sex. I cannot recall the author's real name.

A Rancher's Brand of Justice by Ann Voss Peterson. Cowboy's young son is murder witness. Big-city, lady cop is there to protect the boy. I flipped through this one and I am guessing that it is free of sex scenes. It may have some shoot-outs.

Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. How do the co-authors get picked out for Paterson books? From a hat?

The Fort by Bernard Cornwell. Novel of the U.S. Revolutionary War. Sure to include many Brown Bess muskets.

Texas Standoff by Elmer Kelton. I need to read more westerns. Texas Rangers sent to central TX to investigate murders. Good thing this novel does not include Chuck Norris's singing.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier. Three Christmas themed novellas.

Me, Myself, and Why? by Mary Janice Davidson. "A modern threesome." There is a threesome in that Lorelei James novel I listed above. I am certain that the meanings are very different.

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber. 'Tis the season for Christmas novels.

Legacy by Danielle Steel.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I could try to think of a pun or joke mixing the novel's title and it's massive 985 pages but I will not. Follett still wears his hair big and fluffy. Not skyscraper fluffy like he used to.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Non Fiction

Non Fiction

Rough Guide to Denmark. Knuds Garage "is packed with trendy, alternative-type young locals."

FFA Cookbook: favorite recipes from FFA members and alumni across America by Erin J. Petersilie. This better check-out.

Budget Dinners: 100 recipes your family will love by Rosemary Ellis, Editor in Chief.

Genealogy Online, 9th Edition by Elizabeth Powell Crowe.

Fix-it and Forget-It Cookbook, revised and updated by Phyllis Pellman Good. How will you be able to eat it if you forget it?

Kayaking for Everyone by Bill and Mary Burnham. Kayaks are expensive. I need some oars for my rowboat.

Best of Halloween Tricks and Treats by Better Homes and Gardens. "Pumpkins, parties, costumes, drinks, food, decor."

Norwegian Patterns for Knitting: classic sweaters, hats, vests, and mittens by Mette N. Handberg. Handberg is actually Norwegian. I am reading Billy Boyle by James R. Benn which features a Norwegian angle. I'm really enjoying those Boyle books.

Horror Characters and Science Fiction by Jacob Glasser. Learn to Draw Step by Step guides.

Fiction with Ann Voss Peterson

Fiction

Rocky Mountain Fugitive by Ann Voss Peterson. Rancher and pregnant woman flee through the Rocky Mountains.

A Previous Conversation by Gerard the Library Director
"Gerard?"
"Yes, Self?"
"Isn't Ann Voss Peterson co-teaching the writers workshop in November?"
"Yeah. Her and Konrath."
"Well, Gerard, we have a few Konrath books. What about Peterson's books?"
"Dang it! I'll have to order some."

Santa Fe Edge by Stuart Woods (or so they say). 6'7" attorney take son murder case. In Santa Fe.

A Nose for Justice by Rita Mae Brown. Brown writes those cat books. This is a new mystery series with a dog set out West. I may try and read this if there are no cats. Good for Brown.

Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry. Maberry wrote a 2009 zombie terrorist novel with cop Joe Ledger. Ledger remains working with the super-secret and powerful Department of Military Sciences in a fight against genetically enhanced monsters and soldiers. Shooting and sci-fi, and love scenes, and government intrigue.

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Stop! Stop beating that horse! He's dead! Dead, I tell you, DEAD!

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay. America's cuddliest serial killer has more difficulty.

Bad Blood by John Sandford. Another Virgil Flowers detective story by Sandford. Flowers assists a rural Southern MN sheriff with a murder investigation.

Flawless: a pretty little liars novel by Sara Shepard. A YA novel from a popular series.

Large Print

Father of the Rain by Lily King.

Body Work by Sara Paretsky.

Media: music, movies, audiobooks

DVD

The Good Wife starring Julianna Margulies and Det. Mike Logan. I watched a couple episodes over the summer. They were good.

Red Riding Trilogy: 1974, 1980, 1983 starring Sean Bean and [many people]. Three separate but interrelated films move unflinchingly through a turbulent and tragic decade in the West Riding region of Yorkshire, England - years of serial murders, child abductions and rampant police corruption in which no one escapes undamaged. I ordered this quite a while ago.



30 Rock: season 4 starring [you know the drill]. Comedic antics.

AudioBooks on CD

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay. 9 CDs at 11 hours. I watched the first season of the tv show. I enjoyed the show but the novels and television program do not match. Correct?

Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta. 9 CDs at 10.5 hours. Private investigators in Cleveland.

Elisabeth Smith's Fast-Track Spanish by Elisabeth Smith. Two audio discs and a booklet.

Music on CD

Can't Be Tamed by Miley Cyrus. Twelve songs by teenage pop star.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Seven DVDs, One With Canadian Content

DVD

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: complete season 5 starring Danny DeVito and That Blond Girl. Three discs with 12 episodes.

Castle: Second Season starring Captain Hammer. Five discs with 24 episodes.

Death Comes to Town by Kids in the Hall. Two discs at three hours. Canadians making funny.




OSS 117: Lost in Rio starring [French people].




Shred-It with Weights by Jillian Michaels. One hour of exercises with hand weights or kettlebells.

Plain Truth starring Mariska Hargity. Hargitay is striking the exact same pose she does for Law and Order. Newborn found dead outside Amish town. Hargitay defends the 18 year old Amish suspect.

Madison starring James DeVita. War correspondent returns to Madison, WI and has trouble adjusting to domestic life. Not to be confused with the Jim Caviezel movie about boat racing in Indiana.




One of the producers, Nicholas Langholff, went to high school here and dropped this copy off. He hasn't emailed me an invoice yet, unless the email landed in junk mail. Let me check...nope not there. I could not quite remember the guy's name but he also worked on Feed the Fish so IMDB was helpful. Langholff graduated from Lakeside.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New Travel Guides

NonFiction

Fodor's Guides

Barcelona: with highlights of Catalonia and Bilbao, 3rd edition by Maria Teresa Hart.

DK Eyewitness guides

Arizona and the Grand Canyon edited by Aruna Ghose. I went in 2002.

Top 10 Orlando by Richard Grula. I don't know Victor Gischler but he is going to vacation at Disney World.

Loire Valley by Jack Tresidder. I don't know Jack Tresidder but I'll bet he speaks French.

New England by [could not find a main name]. I was married in New England. In either New Hampshire or Vermont. One of those two. They're the same thing anyway.

Walt Disney World Resort and Orlando edited by Arunda Ghose. I wonder if they have bumper cars. Those are fun.

California by [still no name]. Did I tell that story about going to San Francisco and getting sick as a dog with a bad ear infection. And we rented an Oldsmobile to go to Napa and the seat was horribly uncomfortable? I did? Want to hear it again?

Las Vegas by David Stratton. What about that story where I went to a free, half-day sub-machine gun class in Pahrump, NV? The class instruction was good and they supplied both weapon and ammo.

Bradt Guides

Rough Guide to Mexico by John Fisher, et al. Don't get kidnapped.

Croatia by Pers Letcher. Remember when the Springfield XD used to be the HS2000 and was $200 cheaper?

Insider's Guides

Twin Cities, seventh edition by Jay Gabler. We went to the Mall of America when car-loving Boy #1 was five. He went on the bumper car ride by himself and, since he was five, could not get the car to drive properly or get unstuck from the wall. He had a big meltdown afterwards.

Off The Beaten Path Guides

Minnesota by Mark R. Weinberger. I wonder if Barbara Fister ever does book promos outside of MN.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Great News! Guns, Beer, and Whiskey! In Print!

NonFiction

Shooter's Bible: 101st Edition. The usual but newer.

World's Best Beers: one thousand craft brews from cask to glass by Ben McFarland. They list Schell's (New Ulm, MN) Caramel Bock. Tyranena is listed for Devil over a Barrel Bourbon and Imperial Oatmeal Coffee. New Glarus and Sprecher are also included.

World Whiskey edited by Charles Maclean. Great big photos of bottles, distillers, distilleries. Also includes Japanese whiskeys. The Japanese distillers have been very successful.

World War II Battlefield Communications by Gordon L. Rottman. One of the many historical entries from Osprey Publishing which prints a huge variety of war topics.

Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book, 2nd Edition by Peter C. Sessler.

Countertop Book by Mary Anne Piccirillo. Designs and materials for kitchens, bathrooms, etc.

Modular Knitting Made Easy designs by Andra Knight-Bowman.

Sliding into Home: a memoir by Kendra Wilkinson. Autobio of the Playboy Playmate.

Access 2010 by John Cronan. User's guide.

Ultimate Scholarship Book, 2011 by Gen and Kelly Tanabe.

Fiction

Scarlet Sash by Garry Douglas Kilworth. Another historical military novel by Kilworth. Young soldier Sebastian Early is sent to South Africa during the Zulu Wars. Ends up investigating a murder.

Foreign Influence by Brad Thor. Spy novel of some sort.

Large Print

Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen.

Out of Sight by Stella Cameron.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Guns, Bombs, Indulgences, Diabetes

NonFiction

Big Fat Book of the .45 ACP by Patrick Sweeney. Sweeney writes another gun book. Covers primers, brass, bullets, caliber variations and offshoots, competition, defensive use, reloading. With black and white photos.

U.S. Army Explosives and Demolitions Handbook by Department of the Army. Want to make a buck? Start a publishing company, take a government document with no copyright restrictions, throw your cover on it, sell. A neat book to look through but not very practical.

Martin Luther: a concise history of his life and works by John Schofield. Ever see that outtake story from Python's The Meaning of Life with Martin Luther and spoons? Neither have I but I just found a video clip.





Eating Well with Diabetes: more than 350 savory recipes and a special dessert section by Mary Jane Finsand. Too bad they don't have any desert recipes.

Low-Carb, Sugar-Free Desserts: everyday recipes for healthy living, diabetes and weight management by Victor Kline. Over 100 recipes.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Poorly Processed Paperback and a Large Print

NonFiction

Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Answered Interview Questions by Matthew J. and Nanette F. DeLuca. I listed this before but sent it back to the Pages to have it covered. The Page needs more practice with the adhesive covers for paperbacks. I'm going to have him practice on some donations or withdrawn items.

Everyday Easy 30-Minute Dinners edited by Margaret Parrish. This is a DK book so even if the recipes are lousy the pictures will trick you.

Preserve It! by edited by Lynda Brown. I bought some canning and preserving books not too long ago and they have been circ'ing. So, I bought this one.
This, too, is a DK book. My favorite DK books are the motorcycle, gun, and sports car ones. I used to obsessively study DK's various motorcycle encyclopedias and guides. I still think of Hugo Wilson as a demi-god of motorcycling.

Large Print

Running Scared by Lisa Jackson.

Overton Window by Glenn Beck.

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares.

Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery. A Fool's Gold Trilogy novel.

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Michael Caine, French Spies, Double Order, Comic Books

DVD

The Square starring [actors]. Wife and her boyfriend plot to steal from her husband. "A stroke of twisted genius!" says the back cover.

Harry Brown starring Michael Caine and lessers. Old guy takes revenge on druggies who killed his best pal.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies starring [French actors]. 1955 French spy OSS 117 is sent to Cairo after another spy is killed. OSS 117 is put in charge of a poultry factory. Too bad he is clueless about everything. A comedy. In French.

Fiction

Vermilion Drift by William Kent Kruger. Vermilion is spelled with one "l"? I did not know that.

Portobello by Ruth Rendell. We have two copies of this. Not because Rendell is incredibly popular here but because I accidentally ordered two copies.

Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker. Immanuel has just one "n"? I did not know that.

The Thorn by Beverly Lewis. Another Lewis novel with a good looking gal on the cover dressed in black and wearing a head cover.

NonFiction

Marvel Encyclopedia: the definitive guide to the characters of the Marvel Universe: updated and expanded by Alastair Dougall, senior Editor. I looked up Deadpool because Victor Gischler has written some of the stories. I'm still not sure what the deal is with that character. Or any of the characters. I mean, c'mon, there is a guy named Plantman (page 257) who apparently lives in a submarine in the Atlantic.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Bevy of NonFiction

NonFiction

Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions, 2nd Edition by Matthew J. and Nanette F. DeLuca.

$3 Soups and Stews: delicious, low-cost dished for your family that everyone will love! by Ellen Brown. Everyone? I doubt that. Especially

Simple and Delicious Cookbook by Taste of Home Magazine. The Taste of Home cookbooks are usually popular here.

Ultimate Landlord Handbook by William A Lederer. A couple other books on this topic were out of date.

Real-Life Decorating: your look, your budget by Better Homes and Gardens. Hmm, here is the interesting warning included: Due to differing conditions, tools, and individual skills, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. assumes no responsibility for any damages, injuries, or losses incurred as a result of following the information published in this book.

Scrubs and More: make four outfits, starting with ready-mades or your own sewn scrubs by Lorine Mason. Sew scrub uniforms for nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, veterinarians, veterinary assistants, nurse practitioners, so on, so forth. Good looking brunette modeling some outfits.

Vintage Knits: 30 knitting designs from Rowan for women and men by [a bunch of people]. Make a sweater. Speak in a Sottish accent.

Bible Answer Book: over 260 of the most frequently asked questions by James Stuart Bell and Sam O'Neal.

Excel 2010: Quicksteps by John Cronan. User guide to Microsoft Excel 2010.

No Crider or Lee Goldberg or Victor Gischler

No Victor Gischler

Where the heck is our copy of The Deputy? How has that not been cataloged yet?

Fiction

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich. Is this one of her romances? It's a hardcover. You know Evanovich is a big time author because her photo completely covers the back cover.

Warlord by Ted Bell. Spy works to foil assassination plot against the British royal family. A popular espionage and action series.

My Lost Daughter by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. I really dislike the cover art on this one. Lily is a workaholic judge in Ventura County, California. Her daughter has a nervous breakdown at law school and Lily is split between overseeing a murder trial and caring for her institutionalized daughter. Turns the institution is poorly run, drugging the daughter without cause, and has a sociopath running the criminal organization within the hospital.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale by Jeffrey Archer. Former convict writes another novel. Seriously. Archer went to prison for perjury and perverting the curse of justice. Archer tells good stories though.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. Sparks sells lots of books that are then made into motion pictures.

Speaking of Motion Pictures

Lee Goldberg is filming a short flick in Kentucky. Instead of writing novels. No cars involved unlike this one we already own,





Music on CD

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Music by band from Montreal. Don't let your irrational dislike of Canadians color your judgment of this one either.

Tin Can Trust by Los Lobos. What a great band. Here is a fantastic older tune (with poor quality sound).



No Bill Crider

He's probably guarding his lawn.