Friday, April 06, 2018

Things I Misssed: Cadavers, Rape, Texting

Fiction

Circe by Madeline Miller. A telling of the life of Circe from The Odyssey. Miller lives in Narberth, PA. I have no idea where Narberth is and I refuse to look it up.

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson. Swanson lives in some town in Massachusetts.

NonFiction

A False Report: a true story of rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. Woman reports a rape. Woman prosecuted for making false report. Years later a serial rapist is discovered. Serial rapist is guy who raped woman who was prosecuted.

Text Me When Yo Get Home: the evolution and triumph of modern female friendship by Kayleen Schaefer. This book has good reviews, unlike this blog.

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: a true story of injustice in the American South by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington. Forensic Pathologist for Alabama was incompetent.

Enough As She Is: [real long subtitle] by Rachel Simmons. Child raising advice. Simmons lives in Massachusetts. I have trouble typing Massachuseetsss.


NonFiction: Food, War, Poetry, Money

NonFiction

Secrets of the Human Body by Chris Van Tulleken, Xand Van Tulleken, and Andrew Cohen. British doctor guys write about the human body.

Partially Excited States by Charles Hood. Hood won the Felix Pollak Prize and writes poems about stuff. Hood's poems are split into three sections, the third section is entitled Escape Velocity and that reminded me of this Johnny Marr tune.


Don't Call Me Princess: essays on girls, women, sex, and life by Peggy Orenstein. According to the dust cover Orenstein lives in Northern California with her husband, daughter, and a hairy dog. Page 109 says, "My dad, who was a lawyer, once defended a back-alley abortionist in a criminal case."

Eat The Apple: a memoir by Matt Young. Drunk teenager wrecks his car, joins the Marines, takes three working vacation with guns to Iraq. No photos but there are some simple drawings.

Achtung Baby: an American mom on the art of raising self-reliant children by Sara Zaske.  Page 105 says, "American kids don't have as many opportunities to conquer a dragon - at least outside of a video game - because our kids spend much more time indoors than their German peers do."

Your Score: an insider's secrets to understanding, controlling and protecting your credit score by Anthony Davenport with Matthew Rudy. I figured this would circ.

You Need A Budget by Jesse Mecham. This has a real long subtitle.

Paying For College Without Going Broke, 2018 edition by Kalman A. Chany. Page 173 says, "You have to ask questions 95-102 only if you are an independent student."

Dinner: changing the game by Melissa Clark. This had a fantastic review. Page 223 says, "In a large bowl, toss the kale with the olive oil and fine sea salt to taste."

The Best of America's Test Kitchen by the editors at America's Test Kitchen. Recipes to make food.

Built: the hidden stories behind our structures by Roma Agrawal. I bought this because it looked neat. Ms. Agrawal grew up in the States and India and lives in London.

Thursday, April 05, 2018

Even More Fiction

Fiction

Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes. Writer in Tuscany has three American retirees move in next door.Writer is inspired.

The Road Home by Beverly Lewis. Another Amish romance but the cover has the woman fastening up the shirt of a young boy instead of the usual cover image of a model with her hair covered in the Amish style.

Varina by Charles Frazier. Frazier's Cold Mountain was a huge hit. I did not realize that came our over 20 years ago in 1997. I never read the book either. I started to watch the film and never finished. This novel is about Jefferson Davis's younger wife, Varina.

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman. Ms. Shipman is actually Mr. Rouse. Shipman was Rouses's grandmother. Rouse lives in Michigan and California. Does he fly or drive back and forth? I don't know.

I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa De Los Santos. De Los Santos has a PdD in literature and lives in Delaware. There are a few PhD writers I can think of. Victor Gischler. Anthony Neil Smith. Bill Crider. Megan Abbott. Robert B Parker.

The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith. "A heartwarming tale of hope and friendship set in amid the turmoil of WWII."

Hold Back the Dark by Kay Hooper. Hooper writes a lot of novels. Let us see how many are listed on the inside cover. 8. That seems low.

Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman. Carpooling mom has her life intertwining with the other families after a philandering wife is found out.

Large Print

Large Print

Wednesday, April 04, 2018

Made Up Stories With Made Up Plots

Fiction With Fake Descriptions

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano. Sicilian woman comes to control her own mafia gang.

The Overstory by Richard Powers. A fictionalized look inside the website overstock.com where a warehouse employee moves up into software development while falling in love with a buyer.

The Italian Party by Christina Lynch.  An exciting tale of political intrigue as a group of Italian immigrants in Encinitas, CA fight against developers trying to take away the immigrants new parrot farm.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer. Penny was orphaned at four-years-old. She was taken in by Mistress Kweller who raised her to be the ultimate spy - a woman who sells her feminine wiles and violent urges to the highest bidder.

I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark. A collection of short stories about your dog whenever you eat dinner.

Cave of Bones by Anne Hillerman. A wacky journey through the catacombs of Paris with Louise the plumber as he assists his lovelorn sister in pursuing her missing husband.

The Knowledge: a Richard Jury mystery by Martha Grimes. Richard Jury knows things. He knows the ABV of his favorite ale. He knows how many steps from his front door to the curry shop. He knows the correct number of bristles in a hair brush. But, Richard does not know why his dog smells so bad after having just had a bath.

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison. Ethan was raised by a groundskeeper father and joined the trade. He now maintains the courses at Wimbledon where he tries to catch the eye of the beautiful Eva, an upcoming tennis player from Lithuania.