Vikings!!!
Wolf Sea by Robert Low. The Oathsworn, a viking band, await their leader Orm "to bring them back once more to wealth and warfare." When Orm's sword is stolen the band travel from Scandinavia to Constantinople, Greece, Jerusalem and back again to recapture it and wreak vengeance.
Everything Else
Ambush by Paul Carson. Thriller. Expatriot Dr. Scott Nolan is a successful doctor and well-known campaigner against illicit drugs in Ireland. When an assassination attempt on Nolan and the anti-drug Minister kills Nolan's wife Nolan teams with his policeman brother-in-law to catch the killers.
Winter Haven by Athol Dickson. Inspirational fiction. Vera's brother Siggy has been missing for thirteen years. His body is found washed ashore on the coast of Maine. But, Siggy body has not aged.
Summer Blowout by Claire Cook. Chick book. Bella breaks away from her family's chain of hair salons to start her own place.
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. Chick book with continuing characters.
Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield. Wartime Thriller. Commandos are sent into Egypt to kill German General Rommel during World War Two. Brilliantly realized historical accuracy that makes you feel you are there.
Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara. War book. Something to do with World War Two.
Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. Oprah Style Chick Book. Family flees from fighting and Russians at end of World War Two.
Franchise Babe by Dan Jenkins. Humorous Novel. Eighteen years old blond Ginger is the next greatest thing that will put the LPGA on par with the PGA. But, someone is trying to have her killed. Journalist Jack Brannon gets in the middle of it.
Upside Down Inside Out by Monica McInerney. Chick Book. Guy and girl both travel to Australia for vacation. Both remake themselves with different identities. Guy and girl meet and how will their past (and real lives) come out without breaking them apart?
Boat by Nam Le. Serious Literature. Short stories set in Colombia, Iran, the U.S. and elsewhere.
Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner. Thriller Mystery. Murder-suicides by prominent San Francisco residents are investigated by forensic psychologist Jo Beckett.
Ex-Debutante by Linda Francis Lee. Chick Book. Carlisle ran away from Texas to be a divorce lawyer in Boston. Called back to Texas to help with her mother's latest divorce Carlisle finds herself salvaging the family's 100 year old Debutante Ball.
Finder by Colin Harrison. Suspense. Chinese lady on the run in New York City.
Death Angel by Linda Howard. Large Print Crime Novel.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
More Fiction with Lawrence Block and James Lee Burke
Fiction
Tribute by Nora Roberts. This releases on July 8th. Former child actress Cilla returns to Viriginia to restore her maternal grandmother's home. Cilla's grandmother was a famous and decadent actress who died 30 years ago of a drug overdoes. Cilla finds a packet of letters in the house's attic showing that her grandmother may have been pregnant by a married man when she died. Was she murdered?
Silent Thunder by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. This releases on July 8th. I'm not sure what the deal with this is. Iris is alive but the copyright is by Roy and Johansen Publishing, LLP. Did Iris write any of this?
A Russian sub has been donated for public exhibition and marine architect Hannah is tasked to prepare it. Hannah finds a mysterious message right before a deadly assault on the sub. Hannah finds out why.
Swan Peak by James Lee Burke. This releases on July 8th. Dave Robicheaux is in Montana on vacation with his wife and his friend Clete. When two college students are found murdered nearby Dave gets involved. With: "a wealthy, vicious oil tycoon, his deformed brother and beautiful wife, a sexually deviant minister, an escaped con and former country music star, and a vigilante Texas gunbull out for blood."
Dust Devils by James Reasoner. "Redneck-noir thriller.. a mix of robbers, murderers, betrayals and death."
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block. Keller is very close to retirement. He has been working hard and saving his money. On a business trip to Iowa he is waiting to complete an assignment when the Governor is murdered. Keller sees his own face on television as the prime suspect. That's enough trouble for anyone but Keller makes his living as a hired killer. Now he is stuck in Iowa with no cash, no valid ID, and every cop on the lookout for him.
Large Print
TailSpin by Catherine Coulter.
Tribute by Nora Roberts. This releases on July 8th. Former child actress Cilla returns to Viriginia to restore her maternal grandmother's home. Cilla's grandmother was a famous and decadent actress who died 30 years ago of a drug overdoes. Cilla finds a packet of letters in the house's attic showing that her grandmother may have been pregnant by a married man when she died. Was she murdered?
Silent Thunder by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. This releases on July 8th. I'm not sure what the deal with this is. Iris is alive but the copyright is by Roy and Johansen Publishing, LLP. Did Iris write any of this?
A Russian sub has been donated for public exhibition and marine architect Hannah is tasked to prepare it. Hannah finds a mysterious message right before a deadly assault on the sub. Hannah finds out why.
Swan Peak by James Lee Burke. This releases on July 8th. Dave Robicheaux is in Montana on vacation with his wife and his friend Clete. When two college students are found murdered nearby Dave gets involved. With: "a wealthy, vicious oil tycoon, his deformed brother and beautiful wife, a sexually deviant minister, an escaped con and former country music star, and a vigilante Texas gunbull out for blood."
Dust Devils by James Reasoner. "Redneck-noir thriller.. a mix of robbers, murderers, betrayals and death."
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block. Keller is very close to retirement. He has been working hard and saving his money. On a business trip to Iowa he is waiting to complete an assignment when the Governor is murdered. Keller sees his own face on television as the prime suspect. That's enough trouble for anyone but Keller makes his living as a hired killer. Now he is stuck in Iowa with no cash, no valid ID, and every cop on the lookout for him.
Large Print
TailSpin by Catherine Coulter.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fictional Fancies
Fiction
Rogue by Danielle Steel.
Undead and Unworthy by Mary Janice Davidson.
TailSpin by Catherine Coulter.
Large Print
No Choice but Seduction by Johanna Lindsey.
Rogue by Danielle Steel.
Undead and Unworthy by Mary Janice Davidson.
TailSpin by Catherine Coulter.
Large Print
No Choice but Seduction by Johanna Lindsey.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Six Large Print and One Audio
Large Print
House at Riverton by Kate Morton.
Winter Study by Nevada Barr.
Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark.
Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore.
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs.
Geography of Bliss: one grump's search for the happiest place in the world by Eric Weiner.
AudioBook on CD
Black Out by Lisa Unger.
House at Riverton by Kate Morton.
Winter Study by Nevada Barr.
Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark.
Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore.
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs.
Geography of Bliss: one grump's search for the happiest place in the world by Eric Weiner.
AudioBook on CD
Black Out by Lisa Unger.
Monday, June 23, 2008
What to Read 4
Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.
Money Shot by Christa Faust.
Shakespeare: the world as stage by Bill Bryson.
Rogue by Danielle Steel.
Tailspin by Catherine Coulter.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Favre!, Chinese Cinema!, 12 CD Variety Pack!
DVD
The Quarterbacks - Manning, Brady, Favre by NFL Films.
Come Drink With Me starring [Chinese actors you never heard of]. Golden Swallow is "sent to rescue a kidnapped official from a bandit clan." She teams up with a drunken mentor to help her. The first film to suspend actors from wires for spectacular fight sequences.
Music CDs
Jazz/Blues
Beautiful Day by Jazzamor. What the...? I ordered this? I remember the cover image, I'm sure it's good. Must be another one of those, "Allmusic.com talked me into it" discs.
No. I just checked allmusic and that is not why I bought it.
Night Train to Nashville by Tab Benoit. Louisiana blues musician. I got talked into trying this out by some nerds on the Spyderco forum. A live 2007 performance by Benoit in Nashville on occasion of his Blues Music Association award as Entertainer of the Year.
Country and Western
Troubador by George Straight. Popular guy.
Back When I Knew It All by Montgomery Gentry. These two dudes seem popular so I bought this latest disc.
Rock and Roll
Turbo Ocho by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Roots rock band from Tempe, AZ. Includes a DVD documenting their eight songs in eight days recording process. Website.
Attack & Release by the Black Keys. From Allmusic.com: "From Akron, OH, they play close-to-the-bone, raw blues-rock, the only instrumentation being Auerbach's guitar, Carney's drums, and the occasional organ. Auerbach had a fine, mature, lived-in blues voice for one so young, and the group's material worked in funk, soul, and rock influences from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown that avoided undue repetition of the overdone chord progressions and stock riffs common to so many such acts."
Total Dance : 2008 by Fergie, Ne-Yo, Hilary Duff, others. "The biggest collection of club hits! Continuously mixed by America's #1 DJ, DJ Skribble."
Skribble?
Blame it on Gravity by Old 97's. Latest disc from the Americana/Roots Rock band from Dallas. We also have a live CD of theirs, Alive and Wired. If you like this you can check out their gold-toothed leader's, Rhett Miller, solo albums.
Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins. The Gutter Twins are Greg "Fat Greg Dulli" Dulli (of the Afghan Whigs) and Makr Lanegan (of Screaming Trees). I figured I'd try it out
Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration with Booker T and the MGs, Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor and others. Two disc retrospective.
Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson.
Home Before Dark by Neil Diamond.
The Quarterbacks - Manning, Brady, Favre by NFL Films.
Come Drink With Me starring [Chinese actors you never heard of]. Golden Swallow is "sent to rescue a kidnapped official from a bandit clan." She teams up with a drunken mentor to help her. The first film to suspend actors from wires for spectacular fight sequences.
Music CDs
Jazz/Blues
Beautiful Day by Jazzamor. What the...? I ordered this? I remember the cover image, I'm sure it's good. Must be another one of those, "Allmusic.com talked me into it" discs.
No. I just checked allmusic and that is not why I bought it.
Night Train to Nashville by Tab Benoit. Louisiana blues musician. I got talked into trying this out by some nerds on the Spyderco forum. A live 2007 performance by Benoit in Nashville on occasion of his Blues Music Association award as Entertainer of the Year.
Country and Western
Troubador by George Straight. Popular guy.
Back When I Knew It All by Montgomery Gentry. These two dudes seem popular so I bought this latest disc.
Rock and Roll
Turbo Ocho by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Roots rock band from Tempe, AZ. Includes a DVD documenting their eight songs in eight days recording process. Website.
Attack & Release by the Black Keys. From Allmusic.com: "From Akron, OH, they play close-to-the-bone, raw blues-rock, the only instrumentation being Auerbach's guitar, Carney's drums, and the occasional organ. Auerbach had a fine, mature, lived-in blues voice for one so young, and the group's material worked in funk, soul, and rock influences from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown that avoided undue repetition of the overdone chord progressions and stock riffs common to so many such acts."
Total Dance : 2008 by Fergie, Ne-Yo, Hilary Duff, others. "The biggest collection of club hits! Continuously mixed by America's #1 DJ, DJ Skribble."
Skribble?
Blame it on Gravity by Old 97's. Latest disc from the Americana/Roots Rock band from Dallas. We also have a live CD of theirs, Alive and Wired. If you like this you can check out their gold-toothed leader's, Rhett Miller, solo albums.
Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins. The Gutter Twins are Greg "Fat Greg Dulli" Dulli (of the Afghan Whigs) and Makr Lanegan (of Screaming Trees). I figured I'd try it out
Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration with Booker T and the MGs, Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor and others. Two disc retrospective.
Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson.
Home Before Dark by Neil Diamond.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Three Music CDs: Raconteurs, Sex and the City Soundtrack, and Weezer
Music CDs
Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs. We have the first album, Broken Boy Soldiers, so I figured I would get this second one. Broken Boy Soldiers circ'ed pretty well at 25 check-outs. That's good for a rock n roll CD here in Lake Mills.
I don't know if this is any good or not but a few nights ago PBS was re-playing an Austin City Limits performance by the Raconteurs recorded in 2006; I didn't watch it for more than five minutes.
Sex and the City (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) featuring [crap]. You've successfully avoided the movie, now avoid the soundtrack!
Weezer (Red Album) by Weezer. Another self-titled album by Weezer and it's uber-nerd leader Rivers Cuomo.
Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs. We have the first album, Broken Boy Soldiers, so I figured I would get this second one. Broken Boy Soldiers circ'ed pretty well at 25 check-outs. That's good for a rock n roll CD here in Lake Mills.
I don't know if this is any good or not but a few nights ago PBS was re-playing an Austin City Limits performance by the Raconteurs recorded in 2006; I didn't watch it for more than five minutes.
Sex and the City (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) featuring [crap]. You've successfully avoided the movie, now avoid the soundtrack!
Weezer (Red Album) by Weezer. Another self-titled album by Weezer and it's uber-nerd leader Rivers Cuomo.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Fiction: Girl Books, Shatner!, and a Bunch of Malarkey
Fiction
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. You know the drill.
All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Novel based on the two best friends who got in a car wreck and the survivor and deceased were misidentified in the aftermath.
This is a Young Adult novel but Mitchard is local (sort-of), popular, and was kind enough to answer my e-mails concerning coffee joints in the greater Madison area.
No Choice but Seduction by Johanna Lindsey. "A Malory Novel." Some romance. Lindsey lives in Maine. I don't know if she drinks coffee. She isn't giving a toothy smile on the back cover so maybe she drinks too much coffee.
Large Print
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber. Look it up yourself: Debbie Macomber.
NonFiction
Up Till Now: the autobiography by William Shatner and David Fisher. Canadian.
Stolen Innocence: my story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride, and breaking free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer.
Easy Company Soldier: the legendary battles of a Sergeant from World War II's 'Band of Brothers' by Sgt. Don Malarkey and Bob Welch.
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. You know the drill.
All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Novel based on the two best friends who got in a car wreck and the survivor and deceased were misidentified in the aftermath.
This is a Young Adult novel but Mitchard is local (sort-of), popular, and was kind enough to answer my e-mails concerning coffee joints in the greater Madison area.
No Choice but Seduction by Johanna Lindsey. "A Malory Novel." Some romance. Lindsey lives in Maine. I don't know if she drinks coffee. She isn't giving a toothy smile on the back cover so maybe she drinks too much coffee.
Large Print
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber. Look it up yourself: Debbie Macomber.
NonFiction
Up Till Now: the autobiography by William Shatner and David Fisher. Canadian.
Stolen Innocence: my story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride, and breaking free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer.
Easy Company Soldier: the legendary battles of a Sergeant from World War II's 'Band of Brothers' by Sgt. Don Malarkey and Bob Welch.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Fiction: Jeff Deaver, J. Patterson, Julia Spencer Fleming,
Fiction
Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver. Lincoln Rhyme's cousin is arrested for murder. Rhyme grudgingly helps out and finds out that previous crimes with ironclad evidence - that convicted other people - may have been false.
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Rougham. "A boat is lost, but then comes a message - the Dunne family is alive!"
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer Fleming. "Millers Kill reaches the boiling point in this white-hot novel of love and suspense."
Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels. Another Sisterhood novel about gals whow ork together fighting crime or something.
Large Print
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. A private enterprise spy ship runs across a cruise ship littered with bodies. Before the spy ship captain can attempt a rescue the cruise ship explodes leaving just on survivor.
Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver. Lincoln Rhyme's cousin is arrested for murder. Rhyme grudgingly helps out and finds out that previous crimes with ironclad evidence - that convicted other people - may have been false.
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Rougham. "A boat is lost, but then comes a message - the Dunne family is alive!"
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer Fleming. "Millers Kill reaches the boiling point in this white-hot novel of love and suspense."
Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels. Another Sisterhood novel about gals whow ork together fighting crime or something.
Large Print
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. A private enterprise spy ship runs across a cruise ship littered with bodies. Before the spy ship captain can attempt a rescue the cruise ship explodes leaving just on survivor.
DVD: Luiz Guzman, Obi-Won Kenobi, Steroids, "That's the spirit!", Rock N' Roll Baghdad City
DVD
Heavy Metal in Baghdad featuring Acrassicauda. Heavy metal is not popular in Muslim countries. Rock band Acrassicauda had a tough time under Hussein's reign and things are no better now, but the band rocks on.
Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos. There are umpteen different versions of this picture with diferent versions touting extras, and re-cuts and director versions, and so forth. This is a two-disc version entitled The Final Cut with a documentary, outtakes and interviews on the second disc.
Cassandra's Dream starring Obi-Won Kenobi, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson. Brit brothers have deep gambling debts when their wealthy uncle from America pays a visit and offers them a way out. Too bad the uncle is a mobster because his offer is violent work.
Rambo starring Sylvester Stallone, others. Rambo assists missionaries traveling to Burma and trouble ensues.
Would the ticket sales have been different if this was released more recently? There were complaints from the Burmese rulers after this came out and Stallone responded saying the Burmese leaders are thugs. Considering the recent craziness I guess Stallone was right. I read that Stallone's slurred voice is the result of damaged nerves during a difficult birth.
Cleaner starring Luis Guzman, Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson play a former policeman who now works as a crime scene cleaner who sanitizes the bio hazards of blood and bone. He is called in to clean a murder site and finds out he may have been called in early to unwittingly help in a cover-up.
Heavy Metal in Baghdad featuring Acrassicauda. Heavy metal is not popular in Muslim countries. Rock band Acrassicauda had a tough time under Hussein's reign and things are no better now, but the band rocks on.
Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos. There are umpteen different versions of this picture with diferent versions touting extras, and re-cuts and director versions, and so forth. This is a two-disc version entitled The Final Cut with a documentary, outtakes and interviews on the second disc.
Cassandra's Dream starring Obi-Won Kenobi, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson. Brit brothers have deep gambling debts when their wealthy uncle from America pays a visit and offers them a way out. Too bad the uncle is a mobster because his offer is violent work.
Rambo starring Sylvester Stallone, others. Rambo assists missionaries traveling to Burma and trouble ensues.
Would the ticket sales have been different if this was released more recently? There were complaints from the Burmese rulers after this came out and Stallone responded saying the Burmese leaders are thugs. Considering the recent craziness I guess Stallone was right. I read that Stallone's slurred voice is the result of damaged nerves during a difficult birth.
Cleaner starring Luis Guzman, Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson play a former policeman who now works as a crime scene cleaner who sanitizes the bio hazards of blood and bone. He is called in to clean a murder site and finds out he may have been called in early to unwittingly help in a cover-up.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Another Pile of Stuff. From Ruth the Page this time.
Fiction
The Other by David Guterson. John and Neil are sixteen when they meet, become friends, and explore Washington state's back country. Years later Neil is a family man and teacher while John has dropped out of society to live in the woods. John asks Neil to help him "disappear completely."
The Parting by Beverly Lewis. Book 1 in the Courtship of Nellie Fisher series. Christian themed romance with Amish characters. What is it about the Amish that fascinate Christian Lit authors?
Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. 707 pages of chick lit set in 1900 London. Woman doctor in London slums falls for notorious gangster.
Lost City by Henry Shukman. Grieving and recently discharged from the British Army Jackson travels to the Peruvian jungle to search for a vanished Peruvian capital city.
Resolution by Robert B. Parker. "I had an eight-gauge shotgun that I'd taken with me when I left Wells Fargo. It didn't take too long for things to develop. I sat in the tall lookout chair in the back of the saloon with the shotgun in my lap for two peaceful nights. On my third night it was different. I could almost smell trouble beginning to cook."
Eight gauge? Does he have a tripod to aim and fire the thing?
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. Ship sinks and guys look for it.
Nice to Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers. Prudence is 36, unmarried, childless and now dumped by her boyfriend. Things turn around with "colorful characters" in her D.C. neighborhood.
The Other by David Guterson. John and Neil are sixteen when they meet, become friends, and explore Washington state's back country. Years later Neil is a family man and teacher while John has dropped out of society to live in the woods. John asks Neil to help him "disappear completely."
The Parting by Beverly Lewis. Book 1 in the Courtship of Nellie Fisher series. Christian themed romance with Amish characters. What is it about the Amish that fascinate Christian Lit authors?
Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. 707 pages of chick lit set in 1900 London. Woman doctor in London slums falls for notorious gangster.
Lost City by Henry Shukman. Grieving and recently discharged from the British Army Jackson travels to the Peruvian jungle to search for a vanished Peruvian capital city.
Resolution by Robert B. Parker. "I had an eight-gauge shotgun that I'd taken with me when I left Wells Fargo. It didn't take too long for things to develop. I sat in the tall lookout chair in the back of the saloon with the shotgun in my lap for two peaceful nights. On my third night it was different. I could almost smell trouble beginning to cook."
Eight gauge? Does he have a tripod to aim and fire the thing?
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. Ship sinks and guys look for it.
Nice to Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers. Prudence is 36, unmarried, childless and now dumped by her boyfriend. Things turn around with "colorful characters" in her D.C. neighborhood.
A Pile of Stuff from Angie the Page
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Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
What to Read 2
Three more titles:
Better: a surgeon's notes on performance by Atul Gawande
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Better: a surgeon's notes on performance by Atul Gawande
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
What to Read 1 - A New Attempt at Book Promotion
Three books to consider:
Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan
Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider
L.A. Rex by Will Beall
Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan
Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider
L.A. Rex by Will Beall
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
DVD: Zombies and System Leftovers
DVD
Diary of the Dead starring [people I never heard of]. College film students simultaneously fight and film the zombie takeover. Zombies; a never topic of fascination and lame jokes by gun nerds.
Number 23 starring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen. Walter reads a beat-up novel whose protagonist mirrors Walter.
Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. Newsmen follow the Zodiac killer. Also starring Mark Ruffalo and Chloe Sevigny. I once heard Ruffalo referred to as a "mangina" due to all the chick movies who has acted in.
Evan Almighty starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman. Congressman Evan Baxter gets told by God to build an Ark.
Premonition starring Sandra Bullock. Linda Hanson has a frighteningly real premonition of her husband's car wreck death and tries to stop it from happening. Some sort of thriller.
Diary of the Dead starring [people I never heard of]. College film students simultaneously fight and film the zombie takeover. Zombies; a never topic of fascination and lame jokes by gun nerds.
Number 23 starring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen. Walter reads a beat-up novel whose protagonist mirrors Walter.
Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. Newsmen follow the Zodiac killer. Also starring Mark Ruffalo and Chloe Sevigny. I once heard Ruffalo referred to as a "mangina" due to all the chick movies who has acted in.
Evan Almighty starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman. Congressman Evan Baxter gets told by God to build an Ark.
Premonition starring Sandra Bullock. Linda Hanson has a frighteningly real premonition of her husband's car wreck death and tries to stop it from happening. Some sort of thriller.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Eight Large Print
Large Print Fiction
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. Woman's fictionalized bestseller from years ago causes trouble when her daughter discovers the story.
Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh. Romance.
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. "Characters cope with a business downturn through gossip, secret romance, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks."
Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson. Kristi survives a serial killer twice and has become fascinated with them. She investigates missing girls from All Saints College.
Genius by Jesse Kellerman. Victor Cracke disappears and leaves behind an amazing collection of personal art. A gallery owner hosts a "wildly successful show" and finds that the elderly Cracke's work may be evidence of past crimes. I think that sounds like a neat concept. Does the Kellerman kid wear eye makeup like his dad does?
Death Dealer by Heather Graham. Someone is killing people following the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. Genevieve's mother may be next and she gets help from P.I. Joe Connolly who can speak to the dead.
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. Prisoner of birth my butt, Archer. You were a prisoner of perjury.
Large Print NonFiction
Little Heathens: hard times and high spirits on an Iowa farm during the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. Woman's fictionalized bestseller from years ago causes trouble when her daughter discovers the story.
Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh. Romance.
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. "Characters cope with a business downturn through gossip, secret romance, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks."
Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson. Kristi survives a serial killer twice and has become fascinated with them. She investigates missing girls from All Saints College.
Genius by Jesse Kellerman. Victor Cracke disappears and leaves behind an amazing collection of personal art. A gallery owner hosts a "wildly successful show" and finds that the elderly Cracke's work may be evidence of past crimes. I think that sounds like a neat concept. Does the Kellerman kid wear eye makeup like his dad does?
Death Dealer by Heather Graham. Someone is killing people following the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. Genevieve's mother may be next and she gets help from P.I. Joe Connolly who can speak to the dead.
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. Prisoner of birth my butt, Archer. You were a prisoner of perjury.
Large Print NonFiction
Little Heathens: hard times and high spirits on an Iowa farm during the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.
Nothing For Me: AudioBooks and Fiction
AudioBooks
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. "Eight stories that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand." Pulitzer Prize winning author.
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. Dreck. Girl has imaginary friend leave when she is nine years old and then he comes back in real life when she is thirty.
Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods. Santa Fe trial lawyer testifies as a witness against ex-wife and she makes his life miserable.
Fiction
Shadow of Power by Steve Martini. Attorney Paul Madriani defends murderer in a case with a secret about the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and a letter from Thomas Jefferson.
Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton. Another one of those "vampire hunter" novels. I was wondering if this was one of those sex and vampire novels. I randomly opened the book and came to the beginning of Chapter 3. The first paragraph ended any doubt.
Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell. I don't know what the deal is with this one. I tried reading the inside flap and it was complete nonsense.
NonFiction
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors by Bill Bryson. "One of the English language's most skilled writers...guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage."
Country Ways and Country Days by Jerry Apps. Photos and comments
Door County's Emerald Treasure: a history of Peninsula State Park by William H. Tishler.
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. "Eight stories that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand." Pulitzer Prize winning author.
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. Dreck. Girl has imaginary friend leave when she is nine years old and then he comes back in real life when she is thirty.
Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods. Santa Fe trial lawyer testifies as a witness against ex-wife and she makes his life miserable.
Fiction
Shadow of Power by Steve Martini. Attorney Paul Madriani defends murderer in a case with a secret about the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and a letter from Thomas Jefferson.
Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton. Another one of those "vampire hunter" novels. I was wondering if this was one of those sex and vampire novels. I randomly opened the book and came to the beginning of Chapter 3. The first paragraph ended any doubt.
Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell. I don't know what the deal is with this one. I tried reading the inside flap and it was complete nonsense.
NonFiction
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors by Bill Bryson. "One of the English language's most skilled writers...guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage."
Country Ways and Country Days by Jerry Apps. Photos and comments
Door County's Emerald Treasure: a history of Peninsula State Park by William H. Tishler.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Overdubbed, More Depression, Audio, Koontz
Music CD
Overdubbed by Dub Syndicate. I was listening to ABC Radio online for the first time in a while and a show played one of the songs, Hard & Tuff, from this album. I liked the song and figured I'd try a disc like this out.
I was listening to ABC a few months ago and they played a speech given by a Nobel Prize chemist. The chemist was a great speaker and, among other things, talked about growing up in Minnesota and attending Augsburg College. Since he was was such a compelling speaker I emailed him a note expressing my condolences for his having to attend Augsburg. Go Gusties!
AudioBook on CD
No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley. A comic novel. The First Lady kills her philandering husband by throwing a Paul Revere's spittoon at him. She goes on trial for assassination and her former law school boyfriend comes to her defense.
If acquitted would she still get Secret Service protection?
Fiction
Odd Hours by Dean Koontz. Odd Thomas's travels to a small, coastal California town. Odd talks to more dead people and "sinister authority" looks to exploit that ability.
NonFiction DVD
Men Get Depression. "These videos present the stories of ten brave men who overcame the stigma to tell about their experiences with depression."
Overdubbed by Dub Syndicate. I was listening to ABC Radio online for the first time in a while and a show played one of the songs, Hard & Tuff, from this album. I liked the song and figured I'd try a disc like this out.
I was listening to ABC a few months ago and they played a speech given by a Nobel Prize chemist. The chemist was a great speaker and, among other things, talked about growing up in Minnesota and attending Augsburg College. Since he was was such a compelling speaker I emailed him a note expressing my condolences for his having to attend Augsburg. Go Gusties!
AudioBook on CD
No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley. A comic novel. The First Lady kills her philandering husband by throwing a Paul Revere's spittoon at him. She goes on trial for assassination and her former law school boyfriend comes to her defense.
If acquitted would she still get Secret Service protection?
Fiction
Odd Hours by Dean Koontz. Odd Thomas's travels to a small, coastal California town. Odd talks to more dead people and "sinister authority" looks to exploit that ability.
NonFiction DVD
Men Get Depression. "These videos present the stories of ten brave men who overcame the stigma to tell about their experiences with depression."
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Six Fiction and an True Crime AudioBook
Fiction
Front by Patricia Cornwell. Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano to find a dramatic case for his boss. Looks like his boss is out to keep the local cops dependent on her. "In the days that follow, he'll find that Lamont's task, and the places it leads him, will resemble a house of mirrors."
Johnny One-Eye by Jerome Charyn. "Johnny One-Eye is a literary seduction, a down-low expose of Revolutionary New York, an irresistible netherworld narrative of sexual and political intrigue." Comic novel of Johnny who spends the eight years of the Revolutionary War in Manhattan playing both sides against each other.
Executive Privilege by Philip Margolin. Lowly DC private eye Dana is hired to follow a college student. When the student shows up dead after a secret meeting with President Farrington Dana is on the run. Simultaneously, a defense attorney in Oregon is working on the appeal of a killer who says he was framed for a teen's murder. A teen who worked for the then Governor, President Farrington.
Triumph of Caesar by Steven Saylor [no relation]. Caesar's wife Calpurnia hires Gordianus the Finder to investigate her suspicions of a conspiracy against her husband.
I have yet to read Saylor's last novel Roma. He does good work. Interesting fact: Saylor used to write gay porn as Aaron Travis. Another interesting fact: Saylor is much older than I thought, he is 52. Yet another fact: Saylor is an ancient history nerd.
Large Print
Phantom Prey by John Sadford. Missing girl. Blood on walls. Cop investigates.
Hollow by Nora Roberts. Freed demon. Mind reading.
Nells' Cowboy and Lone Star Baby by Debbie Macomber. Two romances from the Heart of Texas series. Interesting fact: Yuch.
AudioBook
Mysterious Montague: a true tale of Hollywood, golf, and armed robbery by Leigh Montville. Master golfer John Montague comes to Hollywood and plays with Oliver Hardy, Howard Hughes, and W.C. Fields. Playing with a rake, Montague beat friend Bing Crosby at golf. After a New York recognizes Montague as a fugitive charged with armed robbery everyone figures out why he avoided publicity.
Front by Patricia Cornwell. Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano to find a dramatic case for his boss. Looks like his boss is out to keep the local cops dependent on her. "In the days that follow, he'll find that Lamont's task, and the places it leads him, will resemble a house of mirrors."
Johnny One-Eye by Jerome Charyn. "Johnny One-Eye is a literary seduction, a down-low expose of Revolutionary New York, an irresistible netherworld narrative of sexual and political intrigue." Comic novel of Johnny who spends the eight years of the Revolutionary War in Manhattan playing both sides against each other.
Executive Privilege by Philip Margolin. Lowly DC private eye Dana is hired to follow a college student. When the student shows up dead after a secret meeting with President Farrington Dana is on the run. Simultaneously, a defense attorney in Oregon is working on the appeal of a killer who says he was framed for a teen's murder. A teen who worked for the then Governor, President Farrington.
Triumph of Caesar by Steven Saylor [no relation]. Caesar's wife Calpurnia hires Gordianus the Finder to investigate her suspicions of a conspiracy against her husband.
I have yet to read Saylor's last novel Roma. He does good work. Interesting fact: Saylor used to write gay porn as Aaron Travis. Another interesting fact: Saylor is much older than I thought, he is 52. Yet another fact: Saylor is an ancient history nerd.
Large Print
Phantom Prey by John Sadford. Missing girl. Blood on walls. Cop investigates.
Hollow by Nora Roberts. Freed demon. Mind reading.
Nells' Cowboy and Lone Star Baby by Debbie Macomber. Two romances from the Heart of Texas series. Interesting fact: Yuch.
AudioBook
Mysterious Montague: a true tale of Hollywood, golf, and armed robbery by Leigh Montville. Master golfer John Montague comes to Hollywood and plays with Oliver Hardy, Howard Hughes, and W.C. Fields. Playing with a rake, Montague beat friend Bing Crosby at golf. After a New York recognizes Montague as a fugitive charged with armed robbery everyone figures out why he avoided publicity.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Killer Nurses, Getaway Drivers, Global Thriller, and a Lout
DVD
Sick Nurses starring [a bunch of Thais]. Seven nurses and a doctor have been selling patients' body part. One nurse threatens to go to the police and the others kill her. Seven days later she returns to haunt them.
In Arizona one of myLibrary Pages was named Pinintorn. Pinintorn was a lovely gal and really smart. It was not until a couple weeks before she left for college in Tucson that she mentioned she had been in the country for only three years or so. I was incredulous. Her English is perfect. Geeze she was smart.
Fiction
Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli. Raised to be a getaway driver by his violent, con-man grandfather Chase meets a lady cop and goes straight. When he has to go back into the crime life he has to ask his repulsive grandfather for help.
AudioBooks
Whole Truth by David Baldacci. A defense contractor, a government troubleshooter, and a journalist cross paths "as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it."
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg. Rick Bragg learns that "a man who chases a woman with a child is like a dog who chases a car and wins. He discovers that he is unsuited to fatherhood, unsuited to fathering this boy in particular, a boy who does not know how to throw a punch and doesn't need to; a boy unaccustomed to love and affection rather than violence and neglect' in short, a boy wholly unlike the child Rick once was."
Sick Nurses starring [a bunch of Thais]. Seven nurses and a doctor have been selling patients' body part. One nurse threatens to go to the police and the others kill her. Seven days later she returns to haunt them.
In Arizona one of myLibrary Pages was named Pinintorn. Pinintorn was a lovely gal and really smart. It was not until a couple weeks before she left for college in Tucson that she mentioned she had been in the country for only three years or so. I was incredulous. Her English is perfect. Geeze she was smart.
Fiction
Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli. Raised to be a getaway driver by his violent, con-man grandfather Chase meets a lady cop and goes straight. When he has to go back into the crime life he has to ask his repulsive grandfather for help.
AudioBooks
Whole Truth by David Baldacci. A defense contractor, a government troubleshooter, and a journalist cross paths "as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it."
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg. Rick Bragg learns that "a man who chases a woman with a child is like a dog who chases a car and wins. He discovers that he is unsuited to fatherhood, unsuited to fathering this boy in particular, a boy who does not know how to throw a punch and doesn't need to; a boy unaccustomed to love and affection rather than violence and neglect' in short, a boy wholly unlike the child Rick once was."
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sexy Iraqi Bacon on Nicole Kidman
DVDs
First Sunday starring Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan. Not to be confused with the Friday movies Ice Cube has done. Two losers decide to rob the local church. When they find out the money has already been stolen they decide to find out who stole it.
Romulus, My Father starring Eric Bana, Franka Potente. Father and son immigrants in 1950s Australia soldier on after abandonment by the father's wife.
Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks. Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson raises money for the Afghan resistance against the Soviets. Crider liked it.
I'm Not There starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, David Cross, others. Six actors take on six different legends of Bob Dylan's personality.
Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman, James Bond, armored polar bear. Some kid's book made into a movie. Oh, I'm mistaken, it is "a wondrous parallel world...special girl...fate of the universe...discovers her world is threatened...Nicole Kidman...unlikely allies...embarks...extraordinary quest...courage against all odds."
Alvin and the Chipmunks starring [people with no shame]. Chipmunks sing songs.
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker starring Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alicia Silverstone, Mickey Rourke. Teen spy.
NonFiction
Sex and Bacon: why I love things that are very, very bad for me by Sarah Katherine Lewis. "Lewis exposes all that is deliciously nasty and delectably uncouth when it comes to her bountiful appetite. Sex and Bacon is about the intersection of food and sex - how food makes you feel, how lust makes you feel, and how similar those two appetites can be."
Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon. Photojournalist/blogger Yon has probably spent as much time in Iraq as most soldiers. A ground level, infantry eyed look at action in Iraq and the reasons to have faith in the U.S. military and the progress they have made.
Downhill Lie: a hacker's return to a ruinous sport by Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen starts golfing again and writes a book about it.
Home: a memoir of my early years by Julie Andrews. Autobiography by the actress with lots of photographs.
Fiction
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris. Another comedic vampire novel.
First Sunday starring Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan. Not to be confused with the Friday movies Ice Cube has done. Two losers decide to rob the local church. When they find out the money has already been stolen they decide to find out who stole it.
Romulus, My Father starring Eric Bana, Franka Potente. Father and son immigrants in 1950s Australia soldier on after abandonment by the father's wife.
Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks. Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson raises money for the Afghan resistance against the Soviets. Crider liked it.
I'm Not There starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, David Cross, others. Six actors take on six different legends of Bob Dylan's personality.
Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman, James Bond, armored polar bear. Some kid's book made into a movie. Oh, I'm mistaken, it is "a wondrous parallel world...special girl...fate of the universe...discovers her world is threatened...Nicole Kidman...unlikely allies...embarks...extraordinary quest...courage against all odds."
Alvin and the Chipmunks starring [people with no shame]. Chipmunks sing songs.
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker starring Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alicia Silverstone, Mickey Rourke. Teen spy.
NonFiction
Sex and Bacon: why I love things that are very, very bad for me by Sarah Katherine Lewis. "Lewis exposes all that is deliciously nasty and delectably uncouth when it comes to her bountiful appetite. Sex and Bacon is about the intersection of food and sex - how food makes you feel, how lust makes you feel, and how similar those two appetites can be."
Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon. Photojournalist/blogger Yon has probably spent as much time in Iraq as most soldiers. A ground level, infantry eyed look at action in Iraq and the reasons to have faith in the U.S. military and the progress they have made.
Downhill Lie: a hacker's return to a ruinous sport by Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen starts golfing again and writes a book about it.
Home: a memoir of my early years by Julie Andrews. Autobiography by the actress with lots of photographs.
Fiction
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris. Another comedic vampire novel.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
DVD
DVD
There Will Be Blood starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis won an Oscar for this picture about a driven oil man in turn of the century California.
There Will Be Blood starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis won an Oscar for this picture about a driven oil man in turn of the century California.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
One to Scare the Ladies
NonFiction
Private Life of Spiders by Paul Hillyard. A lavishly illustrated book about spiders that my wife refused to even touch.
Complete Guide to Windows and Doorways: repair, replace, renew by Chris Marshall.
Rampant raider: an A-4 Skyhawk pilot in Vietnam by Stephen R. Gray.
Private Life of Spiders by Paul Hillyard. A lavishly illustrated book about spiders that my wife refused to even touch.
Complete Guide to Windows and Doorways: repair, replace, renew by Chris Marshall.
Rampant raider: an A-4 Skyhawk pilot in Vietnam by Stephen R. Gray.
More
DVD
27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl. Heigl is some tv star on Grey's Anatomy. Heigl plays a gal who is always a bridesmaid and then sets her sights on her boss. Chick movie.
Lost Highway starring Bill Pullman, Patrica Arquette, Robert Blake. Jacob the Page's incessant blather about David Lynch motivated me to purchase this one. "Haunting sexuality, ricochet action and fleeting, murderous shadows await you on a journey that begins and ends on the Lost Highway."
If you like this one you can try out Inland Empire, Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, and Mulholland Dr. I suppose I shouldn't blame the Page.
Fiction
Phantom Prey by John Sanford. Lucas Davenport investigates a missing persons case. According to What's Next this is the 18th title in the series.
Secrets by Jude Deveraux. Cassandra has loved Jeff since she was twelve. She dumps her fiance, takes a job as Jeff's nanny and investigates shots at a reclusive actress's home.
Child 44 by Tim Rob Smith. War hero policeman Leo upsets in his bosses in Stalinist era Moscow and is sent to a remote Siberian town. Already in trouble, Leo suspects a serial killer is on the loose. According to government decree serial killers do not exist. Leo gets in more trouble. A very well reviewed novel.
All Souls by Christine Schutt. Popular senior girl Astra at Manhattan's Siddons School has fallen deathly ill. The rest of the high school finds ways to cope with the sudden and upsetting news.
Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman. Political consultant Dev is working on an Illinios Senator's re-election campaign. Dev needs to research the campaign staff's backgrounds and finds disturbing information and the Senator may be at the center. A political mystery novel.
Betrayed by J.M. Windle. Anthropologist Vicki is studying Guatemalan garbage pickers when she finds the corpse of her estranged sister, Holly. "What betrayal connects Holly's murder, the recent massacre of a Mayan village, and the long-ago deaths of Vicki's own parents?"
27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl. Heigl is some tv star on Grey's Anatomy. Heigl plays a gal who is always a bridesmaid and then sets her sights on her boss. Chick movie.
Lost Highway starring Bill Pullman, Patrica Arquette, Robert Blake. Jacob the Page's incessant blather about David Lynch motivated me to purchase this one. "Haunting sexuality, ricochet action and fleeting, murderous shadows await you on a journey that begins and ends on the Lost Highway."
If you like this one you can try out Inland Empire, Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, and Mulholland Dr. I suppose I shouldn't blame the Page.
Fiction
Phantom Prey by John Sanford. Lucas Davenport investigates a missing persons case. According to What's Next this is the 18th title in the series.
Secrets by Jude Deveraux. Cassandra has loved Jeff since she was twelve. She dumps her fiance, takes a job as Jeff's nanny and investigates shots at a reclusive actress's home.
Child 44 by Tim Rob Smith. War hero policeman Leo upsets in his bosses in Stalinist era Moscow and is sent to a remote Siberian town. Already in trouble, Leo suspects a serial killer is on the loose. According to government decree serial killers do not exist. Leo gets in more trouble. A very well reviewed novel.
All Souls by Christine Schutt. Popular senior girl Astra at Manhattan's Siddons School has fallen deathly ill. The rest of the high school finds ways to cope with the sudden and upsetting news.
Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman. Political consultant Dev is working on an Illinios Senator's re-election campaign. Dev needs to research the campaign staff's backgrounds and finds disturbing information and the Senator may be at the center. A political mystery novel.
Betrayed by J.M. Windle. Anthropologist Vicki is studying Guatemalan garbage pickers when she finds the corpse of her estranged sister, Holly. "What betrayal connects Holly's murder, the recent massacre of a Mayan village, and the long-ago deaths of Vicki's own parents?"
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
What's Next
NonFiction
What's Next 2007: a list of adult books in series by Kent Library District. Sixth book in the Lincoln Rhyme series? It's Twelth Card. Fourth book in the Bolos series? Last Stand. How many series has R. A. Salvatore done and what are the books? Look it up yourself.
What's Next 2007: a list of youth books in series by Kent Library District. Forty-six titles in New adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley series. Think about it.
What's Next 2007: a list of adult books in series by Kent Library District. Sixth book in the Lincoln Rhyme series? It's Twelth Card. Fourth book in the Bolos series? Last Stand. How many series has R. A. Salvatore done and what are the books? Look it up yourself.
What's Next 2007: a list of youth books in series by Kent Library District. Forty-six titles in New adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley series. Think about it.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Anne Murray Lives! plus some rap.
Music CDs
Duets: friends and legends by Anne Murray. Murray sings duets with other women. I'm not sure how many of these tunes were recently recorded. Heck Dusty Springfield has been dead for years. At least five singing partners are Canadian. There might be other Canadians hidden in the 17 tunes on this disc but I'm not going to look up all the biographies.
Speaking of Dusty there are two albums available through the catalog Dusty in Memphis and The Very Best of Dusty Springfield. We have Shelby Lynne's CD of Dusty Springfield covers, Just a Little Lovin'.
Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace by Big and Rich. What's the deal with these guys?
Good Time by Alan Jackson. This guy's CDs always check out.
The Wolf by Shooter Jennings. The son of Waylon Jennings. Judging from the band photo Shooter is trying real hard to be "outlaw country". He has a radio show on Sirius radio.
Elephant in the Room by Fat Joe. Rapper guy with diamond encrusted watch.
Ego Trippin by Snoop Dogg. I don't listen to rap but Snoop scowls very well so he must be good.
Best of Both Worlds Concert by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. CD and DVD. Ugh.
Duets: friends and legends by Anne Murray. Murray sings duets with other women. I'm not sure how many of these tunes were recently recorded. Heck Dusty Springfield has been dead for years. At least five singing partners are Canadian. There might be other Canadians hidden in the 17 tunes on this disc but I'm not going to look up all the biographies.
Speaking of Dusty there are two albums available through the catalog Dusty in Memphis and The Very Best of Dusty Springfield. We have Shelby Lynne's CD of Dusty Springfield covers, Just a Little Lovin'.
Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace by Big and Rich. What's the deal with these guys?
Good Time by Alan Jackson. This guy's CDs always check out.
The Wolf by Shooter Jennings. The son of Waylon Jennings. Judging from the band photo Shooter is trying real hard to be "outlaw country". He has a radio show on Sirius radio.
Elephant in the Room by Fat Joe. Rapper guy with diamond encrusted watch.
Ego Trippin by Snoop Dogg. I don't listen to rap but Snoop scowls very well so he must be good.
Best of Both Worlds Concert by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. CD and DVD. Ugh.
Friday, April 25, 2008
She's Got A Gun
Fiction
Sunday at Tiffany's by James Patterson. "What if you imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?" Chick book.
Amber Morn by Brandilyn Collins. Christian suspense novel with a creepy author photo.
NonFiction
She's Got a Gun by Nancy Floyd. Gal buys gun because she misses her brother who died in Vietnam when she was twelve. She enjoys shooting, it ties into her feminist ideas, and reads everything on the topic. Ends up shooting competitively. Lots of photos since author is professional photographer.
Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Professor with terminal cancer prepares last lecture on the "importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment."
Large Print
Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. Latest novel in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Hold Tight by Halran Coben. Some suspense novel.
AudioBook
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. Another suspense novel.
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Suspense again.
Christ the Lord: Road to Cana by Anne Rice. Not a suspense novel. Everyone knows how this turns out.
Sunday at Tiffany's by James Patterson. "What if you imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?" Chick book.
Amber Morn by Brandilyn Collins. Christian suspense novel with a creepy author photo.
NonFiction
She's Got a Gun by Nancy Floyd. Gal buys gun because she misses her brother who died in Vietnam when she was twelve. She enjoys shooting, it ties into her feminist ideas, and reads everything on the topic. Ends up shooting competitively. Lots of photos since author is professional photographer.
Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Professor with terminal cancer prepares last lecture on the "importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment."
Large Print
Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. Latest novel in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Hold Tight by Halran Coben. Some suspense novel.
AudioBook
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. Another suspense novel.
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Suspense again.
Christ the Lord: Road to Cana by Anne Rice. Not a suspense novel. Everyone knows how this turns out.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Western and Pat Tillman
NonFiction
Boots on the Ground by Dusk: my tribute to Pat Tillman by Mary Tillman. Pat Tillman's mother writes the book on her kid, his death in Afghanistan, and the resultant exploitation of his death by the Pentagon.
Fiction
Hard Trail to Follow by Elmer Kelton. A western.
Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde. Some chick book.
Cheating at Solitaire by Jane Haddam. Some big house covered in snow on the cover.
Lady of Light: brides of Culder Creek: book three by Kathleen Morgan. Some redhead with a tartan shawl next to a split wood fence in a field on the cover.
Boots on the Ground by Dusk: my tribute to Pat Tillman by Mary Tillman. Pat Tillman's mother writes the book on her kid, his death in Afghanistan, and the resultant exploitation of his death by the Pentagon.
Fiction
Hard Trail to Follow by Elmer Kelton. A western.
Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde. Some chick book.
Cheating at Solitaire by Jane Haddam. Some big house covered in snow on the cover.
Lady of Light: brides of Culder Creek: book three by Kathleen Morgan. Some redhead with a tartan shawl next to a split wood fence in a field on the cover.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Alzheimer's Info and Care
NonFiction
Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: a groundbreaking approach for everyone dealing with the disease by Robert N. Butler, M.D.
Strength in Caring: giving power back to the Alzheimer's caregiver by Mark Matloff, Ph.D.
Voices of Alzheimer's: the healing companion: stories for courage, comfort and strength edited by The Healing Project.
36-Hour Day: a family guide to caring for people with Alzheimer Disease, other dementias, and memory loss in later life, 4th Edition by Nancy L. Mace, M.A. and Peter V. Rabins, M.D., Ph.D.
Forgetting: Alzheimer's: portrait of an epidemic by David Shenk.
Dignified Life: the best friend's approach to Alzheimer's care: a guide for family caregivers by Virginia Bell, M.S.W. and David Troxel, M.P.H.
AudiBooks
Alzheimer's Early Stages: first steps for family, friends and caregivers by Daniel Kuhn, MSW
Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: a groundbreaking approach for everyone dealing with the disease by Robert N. Butler, M.D.
Strength in Caring: giving power back to the Alzheimer's caregiver by Mark Matloff, Ph.D.
Voices of Alzheimer's: the healing companion: stories for courage, comfort and strength edited by The Healing Project.
36-Hour Day: a family guide to caring for people with Alzheimer Disease, other dementias, and memory loss in later life, 4th Edition by Nancy L. Mace, M.A. and Peter V. Rabins, M.D., Ph.D.
Forgetting: Alzheimer's: portrait of an epidemic by David Shenk.
Dignified Life: the best friend's approach to Alzheimer's care: a guide for family caregivers by Virginia Bell, M.S.W. and David Troxel, M.P.H.
AudiBooks
Alzheimer's Early Stages: first steps for family, friends and caregivers by Daniel Kuhn, MSW
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Three Mysteries and Two Novels
Fiction
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. Follow-up to the comedic doings of the PI firm owning Spellman family from The Spellman Files. "Meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, past missteps are never forgotten, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation - all in the name of unconditional love."
Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher. Katherine's marriage is shattered under allegations her husban dis embezzling and having an affair with an employee. "How can she survive the loss of what she thought was the perfect life?"
Lost by Roberta Kray. A Brisitsh reporter and cop investigate a missing person's case from twenty years ago. Kray was married to one of the notorious Krays.
Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler.
Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson. Chief Inspector Banks and Detective Inspector Cabbot work two separate murders in separate towns.
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. Follow-up to the comedic doings of the PI firm owning Spellman family from The Spellman Files. "Meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, past missteps are never forgotten, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation - all in the name of unconditional love."
Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher. Katherine's marriage is shattered under allegations her husban dis embezzling and having an affair with an employee. "How can she survive the loss of what she thought was the perfect life?"
Lost by Roberta Kray. A Brisitsh reporter and cop investigate a missing person's case from twenty years ago. Kray was married to one of the notorious Krays.
Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler.
Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson. Chief Inspector Banks and Detective Inspector Cabbot work two separate murders in separate towns.
NonFiction Variety Pack
NonFiction
I Don't Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges. "Critiques the radical mindset that rages against religion and faith...identifies the pillars of the new atheist belief system, revealing that the stringent rules and rigid traditions in place are as strict as those of any religious practice." A response to God is Not Great and similar books.
Right of the Dial: the rise of Clear Channel and the fall of commercial radio by Alec Foege. Clear Channel used to be the fourth biggest media company in the U.S. before it sold off radio and television stations. "Foege takes stock of the company's successes and abuses, showing the ways in which Clear Channel reshaped America's cultural and corporate landscape along the way."
Beautiful Boy: a father's journey through his son's meth addiction by David Sheff. Sheff's oldest son went from good kid to lying, stealing junkie. Sheff's concern for his son's trouble turns to an addiction of it's own. I think he was on morning television the other day.
God's Middle Finger: into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant. Travel writer from Tucson heads South into the still lawless Sierra Madre run by drug lords.
Son of Stitch 'N Bitch: 45 projects to knit & crochet for men by Debbie Stoller.
The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: workplace lessons smart people wish they'd learn sooner by Peggy Klaus. Shortcomings in social, communication, and self-management behaviors hinder your advancement more often than any technical deficiencies.
Storming Las Vegas: how a Cuban-born, Soviet-trained commando took down the Strip to the tune of five world-class hotels, three armored cars, and millions of dollars by John Huddy. The subtitle pretty much says it all.
The Road to Wealth: a comprehensive guide to your money by Suze Orman. Revised and updated.
Unlocked: a journey from prison to Proust by Louis Ferrante. Mob connected Ferrante goes to prison and finds sanctuary in books.
I Don't Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges. "Critiques the radical mindset that rages against religion and faith...identifies the pillars of the new atheist belief system, revealing that the stringent rules and rigid traditions in place are as strict as those of any religious practice." A response to God is Not Great and similar books.
Right of the Dial: the rise of Clear Channel and the fall of commercial radio by Alec Foege. Clear Channel used to be the fourth biggest media company in the U.S. before it sold off radio and television stations. "Foege takes stock of the company's successes and abuses, showing the ways in which Clear Channel reshaped America's cultural and corporate landscape along the way."
Beautiful Boy: a father's journey through his son's meth addiction by David Sheff. Sheff's oldest son went from good kid to lying, stealing junkie. Sheff's concern for his son's trouble turns to an addiction of it's own. I think he was on morning television the other day.
God's Middle Finger: into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant. Travel writer from Tucson heads South into the still lawless Sierra Madre run by drug lords.
Son of Stitch 'N Bitch: 45 projects to knit & crochet for men by Debbie Stoller.
The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: workplace lessons smart people wish they'd learn sooner by Peggy Klaus. Shortcomings in social, communication, and self-management behaviors hinder your advancement more often than any technical deficiencies.
Storming Las Vegas: how a Cuban-born, Soviet-trained commando took down the Strip to the tune of five world-class hotels, three armored cars, and millions of dollars by John Huddy. The subtitle pretty much says it all.
The Road to Wealth: a comprehensive guide to your money by Suze Orman. Revised and updated.
Unlocked: a journey from prison to Proust by Louis Ferrante. Mob connected Ferrante goes to prison and finds sanctuary in books.
Six DVDs
DVD
Atonement starring Keira Knightley. Girl sees sister and guy kissing and "her jealousy drives her to tell a lie that will irrevocably change the course of all their lives forever." I haven't seen it or read the book.
August Rush starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell. Stupid concept with young lovers, an evil father, a child secretly sent to an orphanage, child playing guitar to find unknown parents.
Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen. I should do a comparison between American and British actors and see which side has the most actors using three names. Guy is released from prison and cuts lots of throats. I've read that there is a lot of splurting blood.
Kite Runner starring [a bunch of Afghanis you never heard of]. I've never read the book. The friendship of two boys is split and years later one tries for redemption. Or something. I always thought this was about kite fighting.
Juno starring Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman. Wiseacre teen girl gets pregnant and picks out adopting couple. Scripted by Diablo Cody whose autobiography about being a stripper, Candy Girl, we have. Garner and Bateman were both in The Kingdom which I watched yesterday evening. That picture was a disappointment.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei. That's a point for the U.S. Two brothers plot to rob their parents' jewelry store and things go badly. Tomei has a nude scene with Hoffman.
Atonement starring Keira Knightley. Girl sees sister and guy kissing and "her jealousy drives her to tell a lie that will irrevocably change the course of all their lives forever." I haven't seen it or read the book.
August Rush starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell. Stupid concept with young lovers, an evil father, a child secretly sent to an orphanage, child playing guitar to find unknown parents.
Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen. I should do a comparison between American and British actors and see which side has the most actors using three names. Guy is released from prison and cuts lots of throats. I've read that there is a lot of splurting blood.
Kite Runner starring [a bunch of Afghanis you never heard of]. I've never read the book. The friendship of two boys is split and years later one tries for redemption. Or something. I always thought this was about kite fighting.
Juno starring Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman. Wiseacre teen girl gets pregnant and picks out adopting couple. Scripted by Diablo Cody whose autobiography about being a stripper, Candy Girl, we have. Garner and Bateman were both in The Kingdom which I watched yesterday evening. That picture was a disappointment.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei. That's a point for the U.S. Two brothers plot to rob their parents' jewelry store and things go badly. Tomei has a nude scene with Hoffman.
Friday, April 18, 2008
2 CD, 2 DVD, 4 Fic., 6 NonFic, No Bill Crider
CDs
High School Musical Two. Okay, this isn't really new. It was on the processing shelf after getting a replacement case.
Now That's What I Call Music Volume 20 by various artists. Nuts. This is an older one that needed a new case too. We did get some new CDs in yesterday, they are awaiting processing.
DVD
Disney Rarities: celebrated shorts 1920s - 1960s. I bought this for the 1956 cartoon, In the Bag, where the Jellystone Park bears are assigned to pick up garbage.
Man with the Golden Arm and Suddenly starring Frank Sinatra. Two films on one disc. Suddenly is a presidential assassination movie that, according to the case, was delayed or pulled from distribution after the Kennedy assassination. I've heard the same thing about The Manchurian Candidate which also stars Sinatra.
Fiction
Price of Blood by Declan Hughes. Third in a mystery series set in Ireland and featuring the word "blood" in the title. I read the first novel Wrong Kind of Blood and it was okay, but did not enjoy it enough to try the second book, Color of Blood.
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben. Big name author dude.
Bathtub Admirals by Jeff Huber. Former Navy pilot Huber writes a scathingly satiric novel of life in the modern U.S. Navy.
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews. Some food based novel judging by the cover and title.
NonFiction
Ten-Cent Plague: the great comic-book scare and how it changed America by David Hajdu. After WW2 and before television comic books were hugely popular with "garish, shameless, and often shocking content." The resulting backlash by parents, teachers, and all the usual complainers ruined all the fun.
The Physics of NASCAR: how to make steel + gas + rubber = speed by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky. Leslie-Pelecky teaches physics at UT-Dallas. But, strangely, she seems to retain a research group at Nebraska-Lincoln and is not listed on the faculty directory for UT's Physics Department.
Bill Mauldin: a life up front by Todd DePastino. A biography of the great Bill Maudlin. A Pulitzer Prize winner during WW2 at age 22 Mauldin continued as an editorial cartoonist and won a second Pulitzer several years later. A diminutive but determined dude.
In Nixon's Web: a year in the crosshairs of Watergate by L. Patrick Gray III, former Acting Director of the FBI. Nixon considered him a threat and threw him to the wolves (the press). Details his relationship with Mark Felt (Deep Throat).
Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American combat sniper by Hans Halberstad. Why not? We own all the other sniper books in the world. See HOGs in the Shadows, Illustrated Manual of Sniper Skills, Stalkers and Shooters, Shooter.
Why Mars and Venus Collide: improving relationships by understanding how men and women cope differently with stress by John Gray, Ph.D. Because people want to read it.
No Bill Crider
This is a test of my theory that Crider has a blog or google alert and checks out all the links he is sent. Crider did post an online mention of Ten-Cent Plague and someone did check out two of his books today so I'm not totally off the mark.
High School Musical Two. Okay, this isn't really new. It was on the processing shelf after getting a replacement case.
Now That's What I Call Music Volume 20 by various artists. Nuts. This is an older one that needed a new case too. We did get some new CDs in yesterday, they are awaiting processing.
DVD
Disney Rarities: celebrated shorts 1920s - 1960s. I bought this for the 1956 cartoon, In the Bag, where the Jellystone Park bears are assigned to pick up garbage.
Man with the Golden Arm and Suddenly starring Frank Sinatra. Two films on one disc. Suddenly is a presidential assassination movie that, according to the case, was delayed or pulled from distribution after the Kennedy assassination. I've heard the same thing about The Manchurian Candidate which also stars Sinatra.
Fiction
Price of Blood by Declan Hughes. Third in a mystery series set in Ireland and featuring the word "blood" in the title. I read the first novel Wrong Kind of Blood and it was okay, but did not enjoy it enough to try the second book, Color of Blood.
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben. Big name author dude.
Bathtub Admirals by Jeff Huber. Former Navy pilot Huber writes a scathingly satiric novel of life in the modern U.S. Navy.
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews. Some food based novel judging by the cover and title.
NonFiction
Ten-Cent Plague: the great comic-book scare and how it changed America by David Hajdu. After WW2 and before television comic books were hugely popular with "garish, shameless, and often shocking content." The resulting backlash by parents, teachers, and all the usual complainers ruined all the fun.
The Physics of NASCAR: how to make steel + gas + rubber = speed by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky. Leslie-Pelecky teaches physics at UT-Dallas. But, strangely, she seems to retain a research group at Nebraska-Lincoln and is not listed on the faculty directory for UT's Physics Department.
Bill Mauldin: a life up front by Todd DePastino. A biography of the great Bill Maudlin. A Pulitzer Prize winner during WW2 at age 22 Mauldin continued as an editorial cartoonist and won a second Pulitzer several years later. A diminutive but determined dude.
In Nixon's Web: a year in the crosshairs of Watergate by L. Patrick Gray III, former Acting Director of the FBI. Nixon considered him a threat and threw him to the wolves (the press). Details his relationship with Mark Felt (Deep Throat).
Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American combat sniper by Hans Halberstad. Why not? We own all the other sniper books in the world. See HOGs in the Shadows, Illustrated Manual of Sniper Skills, Stalkers and Shooters, Shooter.
Why Mars and Venus Collide: improving relationships by understanding how men and women cope differently with stress by John Gray, Ph.D. Because people want to read it.
No Bill Crider
This is a test of my theory that Crider has a blog or google alert and checks out all the links he is sent. Crider did post an online mention of Ten-Cent Plague and someone did check out two of his books today so I'm not totally off the mark.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Parker Returns and a Ken Bruen
Fiction
Dirty Money by Richard Stark. Parker continues along in Northern New York. He's after the bank robbery loot he stole two books ago and left behind when the police dragnet closed in. Sure to be another great crime novel by Donald E. Westlake's long lasting pen name.
Cross by Ken Bruen. Irishman Jack has a history of bringing his trouble to everyone he loves. He offers to help a friend investigate the crucifixion murder in Galway.
Notorious by Michele Martinez. Martinez's legal thriller books have checked-out well. Melanie Vargas is prosecuting a rap star when his lawyer says the rapper has ties to a fugitive. Moments later the lawyer is killed and Melanie has to investigate his murder and still try her case.
Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison. Some sort of vampire hunter and sex novel.
Ghost War by Alex Berenson. John Wells returns to Afghanistan after penetratin al-Quaeda in The Faithful Spy. This time he finds a link among China, a North Korean spy mission, and a mole in the CIA.
Burn Zone by James O. Born. ATF agent Duarte is in New Orleans to bust a gun runner and marijuana importer. he stumbles across something worse than guns and drugs and into trouble.
Edit: I was checking our website statistics on Stat Counter and saw someone visited this page after searching for Born. So I clicked the "Came From" page of Google results and found this. It is an online radio program scheduled for April 23 with Born as a guest. Give it a listen, I won't.
Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber. Chaz Wilmot's skill as a painter in the style of past Master brings little fame or money. He takes a restoration job that turns out to be a forgery attempt. Art dealer Werner Krebs becomes Wilmot's friend and starts to have oddd hallucinations of the past that more be more than hallucinations and might be visits to the past.
Truth Commissioner by David Park. A Northern Ireland truth commission investigates the years old disappearance of a fifteen year old boy, Connor. Neither the government of the IRA want anyone to know about Connor's forced espionage and his resulting death.
Invisible by Andrew Britton. Former commando and CIA agent Ryan Kelayer goes back to work after a group of climbers disappear on the India-Pakistan border. The resulting diplomatic tussle between India and Pakistan gets worse when the acting Secretary of State visits Islamabad to mediate and is ambushed and kidnapped.
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. Strange happenings and connections between 1891 and 2007 in France.
Dirty Money by Richard Stark. Parker continues along in Northern New York. He's after the bank robbery loot he stole two books ago and left behind when the police dragnet closed in. Sure to be another great crime novel by Donald E. Westlake's long lasting pen name.
Cross by Ken Bruen. Irishman Jack has a history of bringing his trouble to everyone he loves. He offers to help a friend investigate the crucifixion murder in Galway.
Notorious by Michele Martinez. Martinez's legal thriller books have checked-out well. Melanie Vargas is prosecuting a rap star when his lawyer says the rapper has ties to a fugitive. Moments later the lawyer is killed and Melanie has to investigate his murder and still try her case.
Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison. Some sort of vampire hunter and sex novel.
Ghost War by Alex Berenson. John Wells returns to Afghanistan after penetratin al-Quaeda in The Faithful Spy. This time he finds a link among China, a North Korean spy mission, and a mole in the CIA.
Burn Zone by James O. Born. ATF agent Duarte is in New Orleans to bust a gun runner and marijuana importer. he stumbles across something worse than guns and drugs and into trouble.
Edit: I was checking our website statistics on Stat Counter and saw someone visited this page after searching for Born. So I clicked the "Came From" page of Google results and found this. It is an online radio program scheduled for April 23 with Born as a guest. Give it a listen, I won't.
Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber. Chaz Wilmot's skill as a painter in the style of past Master brings little fame or money. He takes a restoration job that turns out to be a forgery attempt. Art dealer Werner Krebs becomes Wilmot's friend and starts to have oddd hallucinations of the past that more be more than hallucinations and might be visits to the past.
Truth Commissioner by David Park. A Northern Ireland truth commission investigates the years old disappearance of a fifteen year old boy, Connor. Neither the government of the IRA want anyone to know about Connor's forced espionage and his resulting death.
Invisible by Andrew Britton. Former commando and CIA agent Ryan Kelayer goes back to work after a group of climbers disappear on the India-Pakistan border. The resulting diplomatic tussle between India and Pakistan gets worse when the acting Secretary of State visits Islamabad to mediate and is ambushed and kidnapped.
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. Strange happenings and connections between 1891 and 2007 in France.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Fantabulous Fiction
Fiction
The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis. Part two in the Courtship of Nellie Fisher series. Another Christian themed romance by Lewis set in Amish country.
Third Circle by Amanda Quick. Amanda Quick is Jayne Ann Krentz's pen name. Leona is after a family relic stolen years ago. Hypnotist Thaddeus is after the relic - a crystal - for it's power. Their true antagonist is Lord Delbridge has already killed two men for the crystal and needs it to gain entry into a secret society.
Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods. Santa Fe attorney Ed testifies against his wife. "With private detectives, hit men, double crosses, and billion-dollar-bank accounts involved, Ed calls in every favor and follows every lead, no matter where they take him. From the posh resorts of desert California and the lush wine country of Napa, to the New Mexico high country and the seedy hotels of Tijuana, Ed Eagle won't rest until he's discovered the truth about what Barbara is up to - and settled the score."
Quicksand by Iris Johansen. An Eve Duncan forensics thriller.
Whole Truth by David Baldacci. Legal thriller.
The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis. Part two in the Courtship of Nellie Fisher series. Another Christian themed romance by Lewis set in Amish country.
Third Circle by Amanda Quick. Amanda Quick is Jayne Ann Krentz's pen name. Leona is after a family relic stolen years ago. Hypnotist Thaddeus is after the relic - a crystal - for it's power. Their true antagonist is Lord Delbridge has already killed two men for the crystal and needs it to gain entry into a secret society.
Santa Fe Dead by Stuart Woods. Santa Fe attorney Ed testifies against his wife. "With private detectives, hit men, double crosses, and billion-dollar-bank accounts involved, Ed calls in every favor and follows every lead, no matter where they take him. From the posh resorts of desert California and the lush wine country of Napa, to the New Mexico high country and the seedy hotels of Tijuana, Ed Eagle won't rest until he's discovered the truth about what Barbara is up to - and settled the score."
Quicksand by Iris Johansen. An Eve Duncan forensics thriller.
Whole Truth by David Baldacci. Legal thriller.
Large Print
Large Print
Iron Cowboy by Diana Palmer. Woman author? Cowboys? A horse on the cover? "Sweet-natured bookseller" female? Draw you own conclusions.
Mystic Horseman by Kathleen Eagle. Must I repeat myself?
Them: a novel by Nathan McCall. Black guy rents ramshackle house. White couple move in next door and black guy and neighbor lady develop friendship over backyard fence. "But fear and suspicion build and clashes ensue as more whites move into the neighborhood, changing the familar landscape."
Heart of Horses by Molly Gloss. What the heck? Where did all these horse books come from? Girl in 1917 gets hired for horse breaking job in Oregon.
Prepared for Rage by Dana Stabenow. A standalone novel separate from the Stabenow's Park Ranger series. AN FBI agent and Coast Guard officer are guarding the Florida coast before a NASA shuttle launch. Determined terrorist plans an attack from sea.
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I ought to read one of these Picoult novels some day. She is very popular. Condemned murderer want sto donate his heart to the sister of his victim.
Dead Time by Stephen White. We have the regular print. Personally troubled psychologist is asked by ex-wife to find the woman hired to be ex-wife's surrogate mother.
Morning Light by Catherine Anderson. The cover is all purple with a big photo of a purple tulip. Oh, great! Another cowboy romance. What a surprise.
Iron Cowboy by Diana Palmer. Woman author? Cowboys? A horse on the cover? "Sweet-natured bookseller" female? Draw you own conclusions.
Mystic Horseman by Kathleen Eagle. Must I repeat myself?
Them: a novel by Nathan McCall. Black guy rents ramshackle house. White couple move in next door and black guy and neighbor lady develop friendship over backyard fence. "But fear and suspicion build and clashes ensue as more whites move into the neighborhood, changing the familar landscape."
Heart of Horses by Molly Gloss. What the heck? Where did all these horse books come from? Girl in 1917 gets hired for horse breaking job in Oregon.
Prepared for Rage by Dana Stabenow. A standalone novel separate from the Stabenow's Park Ranger series. AN FBI agent and Coast Guard officer are guarding the Florida coast before a NASA shuttle launch. Determined terrorist plans an attack from sea.
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I ought to read one of these Picoult novels some day. She is very popular. Condemned murderer want sto donate his heart to the sister of his victim.
Dead Time by Stephen White. We have the regular print. Personally troubled psychologist is asked by ex-wife to find the woman hired to be ex-wife's surrogate mother.
Morning Light by Catherine Anderson. The cover is all purple with a big photo of a purple tulip. Oh, great! Another cowboy romance. What a surprise.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Defensive Handgunning and London, Wisconsin
NonFiction
Defensive Handgunning: a treatise on handgun carry and use by Glenn Rehberg. "Written by an experienced police instructor...guides the reader through the steps necessary to select, carry, and use a handgun in self-defense. Moreover, the the author takes the reader through important considerations surrounding handgun use."
All the usual items (mindset, stance, grip, reloading, malfunctions, drawing, tactics, etc.) but in a well prepared and presented text. Not too many photographic illustrations but they properly chosen and clear (clear but a little grainy).
London, Wisconsin "Railroad Town": a composite history 1881-2003 by Roland Liebenow, M.D. Local Lake Mills historian Liebenow had two copies of this hardbound for us.
Defensive Handgunning: a treatise on handgun carry and use by Glenn Rehberg. "Written by an experienced police instructor...guides the reader through the steps necessary to select, carry, and use a handgun in self-defense. Moreover, the the author takes the reader through important considerations surrounding handgun use."
All the usual items (mindset, stance, grip, reloading, malfunctions, drawing, tactics, etc.) but in a well prepared and presented text. Not too many photographic illustrations but they properly chosen and clear (clear but a little grainy).
London, Wisconsin "Railroad Town": a composite history 1881-2003 by Roland Liebenow, M.D. Local Lake Mills historian Liebenow had two copies of this hardbound for us.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Large Print Rural Life in Iran
DVD
Reservation Road starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino. Car crash leaves a boy dead and parents seeking revenge. I think. The back of the case doesn't say anything about the plot but this is what I recall from when I ordered it.
Day Break starring [Iranians]. Mansour is in an Iranian prison awaiting judgement by the family of the man he killed. The family never shows up for any of his sentencing dates and he is left to wonder if he will be forgiven or condemned.
Pain of depression: a journey through darkness. "Real people. Real stories. Real Triumphs." You can slowly die or decide to seek treatment and get better.
Music CD
Now That's What I call Music Volume 27. "20 chart-topping hits!" Top forty pop tunes.
Fiction
Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe solves more crimes in Africa. Mme. Ramotswe must find the family of a woman who does not her own name and a snake-oil salesman who says he can cure the daughter of Matekoni, owner of Speedy Motors.
Large Print
Where are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark. Same book as the regular print I listed before.
Guilty by Karen Robards. Why do books by women authors so often feature leggy gals in high heels? That motif is starting to get dated.
NonFiction
Future of Farming and Rural Life in Wisconsin: findings, recommendations, steps to a healthy future by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.
Reservation Road starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino. Car crash leaves a boy dead and parents seeking revenge. I think. The back of the case doesn't say anything about the plot but this is what I recall from when I ordered it.
Day Break starring [Iranians]. Mansour is in an Iranian prison awaiting judgement by the family of the man he killed. The family never shows up for any of his sentencing dates and he is left to wonder if he will be forgiven or condemned.
Pain of depression: a journey through darkness. "Real people. Real stories. Real Triumphs." You can slowly die or decide to seek treatment and get better.
Music CD
Now That's What I call Music Volume 27. "20 chart-topping hits!" Top forty pop tunes.
Fiction
Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe solves more crimes in Africa. Mme. Ramotswe must find the family of a woman who does not her own name and a snake-oil salesman who says he can cure the daughter of Matekoni, owner of Speedy Motors.
Large Print
Where are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark. Same book as the regular print I listed before.
Guilty by Karen Robards. Why do books by women authors so often feature leggy gals in high heels? That motif is starting to get dated.
NonFiction
Future of Farming and Rural Life in Wisconsin: findings, recommendations, steps to a healthy future by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Large Print, One DVD, Chick Lit, a Joke
DVD
The Mist starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher. A thick mist filled with monsters traps a bunch of people in a supermarket.
Large Print
Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross. Miss Julia tries to scare off developers by exposing and promoting all the weirdos in town.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Two best friends from childhood have a split. A schism. An estrangement. A rift.
Texas Princess by Jodi Thomas. A romance. Guy teaches Senator's daughter to horse ride and they take off into the mountains after an assassination attempt.
Fiction
Seraphim by Michael Hauf. A French female knight in 1433 looks to destroy fallen angel Lucifer de Mort.
Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Isabel Sarpe. "Welcome to Kettle, Wisconsin where everyone knows nothing bad ever happens."
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. College girl Laurel helps out in mentally ill facility and finds that recently deceased dude was once famed photographer. Believes she has a found a family secret in his photograph collection.
NonFiction
Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul edited by Jack Canfield. I've never read one of these books. But, in the spirit of this long running book series here is a new April Fool's joke by a five-year-old: "How do you tell if someone pooped in your socks? Rubber Ducky!
The Mist starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher. A thick mist filled with monsters traps a bunch of people in a supermarket.
Large Print
Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross. Miss Julia tries to scare off developers by exposing and promoting all the weirdos in town.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Two best friends from childhood have a split. A schism. An estrangement. A rift.
Texas Princess by Jodi Thomas. A romance. Guy teaches Senator's daughter to horse ride and they take off into the mountains after an assassination attempt.
Fiction
Seraphim by Michael Hauf. A French female knight in 1433 looks to destroy fallen angel Lucifer de Mort.
Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Isabel Sarpe. "Welcome to Kettle, Wisconsin where everyone knows nothing bad ever happens."
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. College girl Laurel helps out in mentally ill facility and finds that recently deceased dude was once famed photographer. Believes she has a found a family secret in his photograph collection.
NonFiction
Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul edited by Jack Canfield. I've never read one of these books. But, in the spirit of this long running book series here is a new April Fool's joke by a five-year-old: "How do you tell if someone pooped in your socks? Rubber Ducky!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Two Audio, One DVD, Oprah
AudioBooks
Be Cool by Elmore Leonard. Not very new but new to us.
Hamlet's Dresser by Bob Smith. Smith grew up in Stratford, Connecticut and found "a window through which to view the world" in Shakespeare. He becomes Hamlets dresser at the annual Shakespeare festival.
DVD
Second Chance starring Michael W. Smith and Jeff Obafemi Carr. Suburban pastor Ethan works under his dad at a wealthy suburban mega-church. Ethan's concern with running the church as a business get him sent to a sister church in a poor, urban neighborhood to learn about faith.
Oprah
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. A paperback version.
Be Cool by Elmore Leonard. Not very new but new to us.
Hamlet's Dresser by Bob Smith. Smith grew up in Stratford, Connecticut and found "a window through which to view the world" in Shakespeare. He becomes Hamlets dresser at the annual Shakespeare festival.
DVD
Second Chance starring Michael W. Smith and Jeff Obafemi Carr. Suburban pastor Ethan works under his dad at a wealthy suburban mega-church. Ethan's concern with running the church as a business get him sent to a sister church in a poor, urban neighborhood to learn about faith.
Oprah
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. A paperback version.
Six Fiction with a Sorta Local Author
Fiction
Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. A bunch of quilting women get together and make quilts and friends. Some chick book. Since Chiaverini lives in Madison I tried to schedule an author visit. Chiaverini has her publisher do her bookings and those weasels at Simon and Schuster are impossible to contact so I gave up. For the moment at least.
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. The return of Cannie Shapiro from Good in Bed. Cannie is married with a daughter. Her daughter, Joy, who discovers the fictionalized and sexualized account of Cannie's life and suspects her parentage.
Winter Study by Nevada Barr. Park Ranger Anna Pigeon's latest adventure takes her to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.
Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark. Columbia University senior Mack walked out of his apartment several years ago and never returned to his life. He calls his mother every Mother's Day but never says where he is or why he stays gone. One year his sister decides to find him.
Third Angel by Alice Hoffman. "A magical and stunningly original story that charts the lives of three women in love with the wrong men." Oh boy.
Adam by Ted Dekker. Profiler Adam has been obsessed with finding the serial killer Eve. After killing sixteen women Eve targets Adam as "Eve's Adam" and shoots him in the head.
Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. A bunch of quilting women get together and make quilts and friends. Some chick book. Since Chiaverini lives in Madison I tried to schedule an author visit. Chiaverini has her publisher do her bookings and those weasels at Simon and Schuster are impossible to contact so I gave up. For the moment at least.
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. The return of Cannie Shapiro from Good in Bed. Cannie is married with a daughter. Her daughter, Joy, who discovers the fictionalized and sexualized account of Cannie's life and suspects her parentage.
Winter Study by Nevada Barr. Park Ranger Anna Pigeon's latest adventure takes her to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.
Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark. Columbia University senior Mack walked out of his apartment several years ago and never returned to his life. He calls his mother every Mother's Day but never says where he is or why he stays gone. One year his sister decides to find him.
Third Angel by Alice Hoffman. "A magical and stunningly original story that charts the lives of three women in love with the wrong men." Oh boy.
Adam by Ted Dekker. Profiler Adam has been obsessed with finding the serial killer Eve. After killing sixteen women Eve targets Adam as "Eve's Adam" and shoots him in the head.
Three Mysteries and Four Large Print
Mystery
South of Shiloh by Chuck Logan. Civil War reenactor Paul from Minnesota is killed in Mississippi during the mock battle of Kirby Creek by a live round. His neighbor on the Union line, Kenny Beeman, was the real target and now Paul's wife has enlisted friend and newsman John Rane to investigate.
Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark. Jack and Regan Reilly are caught in a blackout in New York City. Ever seen Zapped with Scott Baio? I enjoyed that movie in junior high.
Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart. Something about stolen Double Eagle coins and family intrigue.
Large Print
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. "The Prince of Wales invites several financiers and their wives to dinner to discuss an African railway. The party comes to a rough end when the men's evening entertainment - a whore - is found dead on the Queen's monogrammed sheets. Thomas Pitt of the Special Services enlists his maid Gracie to help solve the crime."
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear. We have the regular print edition, too. Some mystery about Kent during harvest time and hop-picking. Tyranena Brewing gives tours and lets you taste some of the compressed hop pellets they use for brewing.
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. Isabella is the world's largest supercollider and is almost ready to use. "Will it divulge the mysteries of the universe, or as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is Isabella a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty? Twelve scientists are sent to a remote mountain to turn it on - and what they discover is utterly unexpected."
An Ordinary Man: an autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina. Rusesabagina was the hotel manager that Hotel Rwanda was based on. He spoke at GAC.
South of Shiloh by Chuck Logan. Civil War reenactor Paul from Minnesota is killed in Mississippi during the mock battle of Kirby Creek by a live round. His neighbor on the Union line, Kenny Beeman, was the real target and now Paul's wife has enlisted friend and newsman John Rane to investigate.
Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark. Jack and Regan Reilly are caught in a blackout in New York City. Ever seen Zapped with Scott Baio? I enjoyed that movie in junior high.
Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart. Something about stolen Double Eagle coins and family intrigue.
Large Print
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. "The Prince of Wales invites several financiers and their wives to dinner to discuss an African railway. The party comes to a rough end when the men's evening entertainment - a whore - is found dead on the Queen's monogrammed sheets. Thomas Pitt of the Special Services enlists his maid Gracie to help solve the crime."
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear. We have the regular print edition, too. Some mystery about Kent during harvest time and hop-picking. Tyranena Brewing gives tours and lets you taste some of the compressed hop pellets they use for brewing.
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. Isabella is the world's largest supercollider and is almost ready to use. "Will it divulge the mysteries of the universe, or as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is Isabella a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty? Twelve scientists are sent to a remote mountain to turn it on - and what they discover is utterly unexpected."
An Ordinary Man: an autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina. Rusesabagina was the hotel manager that Hotel Rwanda was based on. He spoke at GAC.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Will Smith as Matthew McConaughey, Guy with Eye Make-Up, Three Large Print
DVD
I am Legend starring Will Smith. Will Smith takes his shirt off and shoots zombies. Or vampires. Bill Crider re-read the novel and had a few things to say about it. But, why should I listen to some some weird Texas stranger spout off about things? I've had a weird Texan to deal with all my life. From now I will employ independent thought and not act as Crider's slavish monkey.
Fiction
Of All Sad Words by Bill Crider. Maybe you missed this the first time I mentioned it. That Crider is a genius!
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis hunt down another killer. Kellerman's eye make-up is not nearly as obvious as it once was.
Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh. Wambaugh is back to novels after a slew of true crime titles. Another humorous yet serious look at police work in Los Angeles.
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. The Prince of Wales invites several financiers and their wives to dinner to discuss an African railway. The party comes to a rough end when the men's evening entertainment - a whore - is found dead on the Queen's monogrammed sheets. Thomas Pitt of the Special Services enlists his maid Gracie to help solve the crime.
Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff. Short stories by Wolff.
Large Print
Betrayal by John Lescroat. Attorney Dismas Hardy takes on the appeal of a National Guard reservist who killed a private contractor he knew in Iraq.
Ice Trap by Kitty Sewell. Mystery set in the forests of Northern Canada.
Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell. Cannell has become a good novelist. An Internal Affairs detective asks Shane Scully to assist in investigating a recanted confession taken by a vicious cop Scully has a bad history with.
I am Legend starring Will Smith. Will Smith takes his shirt off and shoots zombies. Or vampires. Bill Crider re-read the novel and had a few things to say about it. But, why should I listen to some some weird Texas stranger spout off about things? I've had a weird Texan to deal with all my life. From now I will employ independent thought and not act as Crider's slavish monkey.
Fiction
Of All Sad Words by Bill Crider. Maybe you missed this the first time I mentioned it. That Crider is a genius!
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis hunt down another killer. Kellerman's eye make-up is not nearly as obvious as it once was.
Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh. Wambaugh is back to novels after a slew of true crime titles. Another humorous yet serious look at police work in Los Angeles.
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry. The Prince of Wales invites several financiers and their wives to dinner to discuss an African railway. The party comes to a rough end when the men's evening entertainment - a whore - is found dead on the Queen's monogrammed sheets. Thomas Pitt of the Special Services enlists his maid Gracie to help solve the crime.
Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff. Short stories by Wolff.
Large Print
Betrayal by John Lescroat. Attorney Dismas Hardy takes on the appeal of a National Guard reservist who killed a private contractor he knew in Iraq.
Ice Trap by Kitty Sewell. Mystery set in the forests of Northern Canada.
Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell. Cannell has become a good novelist. An Internal Affairs detective asks Shane Scully to assist in investigating a recanted confession taken by a vicious cop Scully has a bad history with.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
DVDs
DVD
No Country For Old Men starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin. Sociopathic hit man does a star studded tour across the Rio Grande region of Texas.
Five Days starring [people]. A mother vanishes into thin air. Her children, abandoned in her car, also end up missing. As police search for clues over three gut-wrenching months, the woman's husband and family learn that nobody's quite what they seem. In the end, five days prove critical in solving the case.
Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard. A war criminal is on the loose in Yugoslavia. The U.N. claims they cannot find him but vacationing journalist takes only a couple hours to find him. "What begins as an impulsive reporting adventure immediately turns dangerous..."
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck. Nineteen year old Bob Ford's desire for fame leads to a plan to kill Jesse James. Here are the facts: Jesse James was a scumbag, thief, robber, and murderer.
Fabulously Fit Moms: Sleek and Sexy Workouts and Upper Body Blast with Jennifer Nicole Lee.
No Country For Old Men starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin. Sociopathic hit man does a star studded tour across the Rio Grande region of Texas.
Five Days starring [people]. A mother vanishes into thin air. Her children, abandoned in her car, also end up missing. As police search for clues over three gut-wrenching months, the woman's husband and family learn that nobody's quite what they seem. In the end, five days prove critical in solving the case.
Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard. A war criminal is on the loose in Yugoslavia. The U.N. claims they cannot find him but vacationing journalist takes only a couple hours to find him. "What begins as an impulsive reporting adventure immediately turns dangerous..."
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck. Nineteen year old Bob Ford's desire for fame leads to a plan to kill Jesse James. Here are the facts: Jesse James was a scumbag, thief, robber, and murderer.
Fabulously Fit Moms: Sleek and Sexy Workouts and Upper Body Blast with Jennifer Nicole Lee.
Three Fiction, One Sopranos, One Audio
Fiction
Stalked by Brian Freeman. Cop Jonathan Stride in Duluth looks for "seductive young woman..following a twisted trail, Stride uncovers a sordid web of violence and voyeurism...his lover, Serena Dial is chasing a blackmailer who knows all the city's dirty secrets...a predator with a vicious path is hunting them - with a terrifying plan for revenge...Freeman will keep you glued to your seat and turning the pages [of this] frighteningly compelling saga."
Charley's Web by Joy Fielding. Charley Webb writes a controversial newspaper column in Florida. When she gets an offer to write the biography of a female child killer she takes the offer and starts getting death threats.
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. The cover has an illustration of a river with an urban skyline across the water. Six streams of yellow CAUTION tape are spread across the view.
NonFiction
Sopranos: the complete book by Brett Martin. Episodes, character bios, actor commentaries, sets and locations and a whole bunch of photos.
AudioBook
Souvenir by Therese Fowler. Meg and Carson were always figured to marry. Meg married some other dude for money and seventeen years later Carson returns to town as Meg is already with domestic troubles.
Stalked by Brian Freeman. Cop Jonathan Stride in Duluth looks for "seductive young woman..following a twisted trail, Stride uncovers a sordid web of violence and voyeurism...his lover, Serena Dial is chasing a blackmailer who knows all the city's dirty secrets...a predator with a vicious path is hunting them - with a terrifying plan for revenge...Freeman will keep you glued to your seat and turning the pages [of this] frighteningly compelling saga."
Charley's Web by Joy Fielding. Charley Webb writes a controversial newspaper column in Florida. When she gets an offer to write the biography of a female child killer she takes the offer and starts getting death threats.
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein. The cover has an illustration of a river with an urban skyline across the water. Six streams of yellow CAUTION tape are spread across the view.
NonFiction
Sopranos: the complete book by Brett Martin. Episodes, character bios, actor commentaries, sets and locations and a whole bunch of photos.
AudioBook
Souvenir by Therese Fowler. Meg and Carson were always figured to marry. Meg married some other dude for money and seventeen years later Carson returns to town as Meg is already with domestic troubles.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Three Mysteries, Anne Rice, Arthritis Treatment, Killer's Wife
Mysteries
Dead Time by Stephen White. Colorado psychologist Alan's ex-wife Merideth comes to him for help in finding his ex-wife's missing surrogate mom. Alan finds a tie-in to a tragic Grand Canyon trip by Merideth's fiancee and "unearths a series of secrets and deceptions that someone wishes to keep buried at all costs."
Grounds for Murder by Sandra Balzo. Coffee in Milwaukee. A coffee trade show in Milwaukee features rivalries and clashing egos. Attendees really see red when coffee shop owner Maggy finds a body under her table.
Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. Third in a series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Quebec Provincial Police. Gamache is called to the small Quebec town of Three Pines to investigate a death during a seance. A well written "literary mystery" with neat characters and setting.
Fiction
Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd. Leigh has lived quietly with her son in North Carolina for six years. Things are fine until a still mourning father exposes Leigh's past as the wife of a serial killer whose testimony sealed her husband's death sentence. And now another serial killer is copying her husband's work and focusing on people from Leigh's past.
Christ the Lord: the road to Cana by Anne Rice. Anne Rice, huh? A vampire Jesus?
Large Print
Strangers in Death by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Prominent businessman Thomas Anders dies by strangulation in bed in 2060 New York. A crime of passion or an execution?
Non Fiction
Too Young to Feel Old: the arthritis doctor's 28-day formula for pain-free living by Richard H. Blau, MD, F.A.C.R..
Dead Time by Stephen White. Colorado psychologist Alan's ex-wife Merideth comes to him for help in finding his ex-wife's missing surrogate mom. Alan finds a tie-in to a tragic Grand Canyon trip by Merideth's fiancee and "unearths a series of secrets and deceptions that someone wishes to keep buried at all costs."
Grounds for Murder by Sandra Balzo. Coffee in Milwaukee. A coffee trade show in Milwaukee features rivalries and clashing egos. Attendees really see red when coffee shop owner Maggy finds a body under her table.
Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. Third in a series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Quebec Provincial Police. Gamache is called to the small Quebec town of Three Pines to investigate a death during a seance. A well written "literary mystery" with neat characters and setting.
Fiction
Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd. Leigh has lived quietly with her son in North Carolina for six years. Things are fine until a still mourning father exposes Leigh's past as the wife of a serial killer whose testimony sealed her husband's death sentence. And now another serial killer is copying her husband's work and focusing on people from Leigh's past.
Christ the Lord: the road to Cana by Anne Rice. Anne Rice, huh? A vampire Jesus?
Large Print
Strangers in Death by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Prominent businessman Thomas Anders dies by strangulation in bed in 2060 New York. A crime of passion or an execution?
Non Fiction
Too Young to Feel Old: the arthritis doctor's 28-day formula for pain-free living by Richard H. Blau, MD, F.A.C.R..
More Music
CDs
We Have You Surrounded by The Dirtbombs. Garage rock from Detroit. Playing in Madison in May.
Here My Dear by Marvin Gaye. Gaye's bizarre divorce album from 1978. Part of his divorce settlement included that he make an album and his wife would receive all proceeds. Gaye produced this "two-disc-long confessional on the deterioration of their marriage; starting from the opening notes of the title track, Gaye viciously cuts with every lyric deeper into an explanation of why the relationship died the way it did. Gaye uses the album, right down to its packaging, to exorcise his personal demons with subtle visual digs and less-than-subtle lyrical attacks."
Love is Simple by The Akron Family. I cannot recall why I ordered this. I think the band appeared on someone else's disc.
Lust, Lust, Lust by the Raveonettes. A duo from Copenhagen. "The sound of a band rescuing their career from the clutches of cliché and rediscovering the magic that made them so exciting on their debut."
Some People Have Real Problems by Sia. A singer with a lot of recent press. Listen.
Hernando by North Mississippi Allstars. Roots rock from Mississippi. Another band with recent press. Listen.
We Have You Surrounded by The Dirtbombs. Garage rock from Detroit. Playing in Madison in May.
Here My Dear by Marvin Gaye. Gaye's bizarre divorce album from 1978. Part of his divorce settlement included that he make an album and his wife would receive all proceeds. Gaye produced this "two-disc-long confessional on the deterioration of their marriage; starting from the opening notes of the title track, Gaye viciously cuts with every lyric deeper into an explanation of why the relationship died the way it did. Gaye uses the album, right down to its packaging, to exorcise his personal demons with subtle visual digs and less-than-subtle lyrical attacks."
Love is Simple by The Akron Family. I cannot recall why I ordered this. I think the band appeared on someone else's disc.
Lust, Lust, Lust by the Raveonettes. A duo from Copenhagen. "The sound of a band rescuing their career from the clutches of cliché and rediscovering the magic that made them so exciting on their debut."
Some People Have Real Problems by Sia. A singer with a lot of recent press. Listen.
Hernando by North Mississippi Allstars. Roots rock from Mississippi. Another band with recent press. Listen.
Bunch of DVDs
DVD
Wild Women of Wongo starring Jean Hawkshaw, Johnny Walsh. The classic 1959 picture. The Wongo women reject their brutish men when the handsome Prince of Goona proposes the two tribes unite to fight off the Tribe of Ape Men.
Here is the story on this one. I originally ordered the 2007 picture The Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo produced by the creators and writers of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 with voice over comments ridiculing the original 1959 picture. We could not find a catalog record for Film Crew and sent it over to West Bend to have it cataloged. But, the notes attached to that DVD were lost and the staff there assumed the item was a donation. Since the selectors at West Bend decided not to add the "donation" they put it in their book sale and some lucky duck bought it and took it home.
Since the staff at West Bend erred, Director Michael offered to buy a replacement. I sent Mike the information for Film Crew but whoever ordered the replacement bought the original 1959 version. Since the original seems so wonderfully awful I'm just going to keep it.
30 Days of Night starring Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Vampires visit an Alaskan town in winter while the sun is gone for 30 days.
Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis. Animated telling of Beowulf.
Iceman Interviews. A compilation of three HBO programs on Richard Kuklinski. Kuklinski was a paid killer from New Jersey convicted for murder. He was interviewed on camera by psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz. Kuklinski was a scary guy.
In the Valley of Elah starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Soldier Mike Deerfield's father Hank goes searching for Mike after Mike disappears on his return from Iraq.
Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn, directed by Werner Herzog. Gustavus drop-out Zahn plays a fellow POW of Dieter Dengler. Both men plan escape from a Vietnamese POW prison camp.
Watch Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Learns to Fly to learn more about Dengler and his escape.
Chalk starring some dudes. Fake documentary style comedy about a struggling first year teacher and his colleagues. I read a good review in the Madison paper when this was in the theater.
Torchwood: the complete first season. A spin-off of the the latest Dr. Who. My wife was lobbying for me to buy this.
Land of the Dead starring John Leguizamo, Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper. A zombie movie? At the Lake Mills Library? Unthinkable! The latest entry in George A. Romero's zombie tale.
Sea Change starring Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sean Young, William Sadler. The fourth entry in Selleck's dramatizations of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone mystery series. These have been good movies.
Things We Lost in the Fire starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro. Audrey's loving husband dies in a fire leaving her and her children adrift. Audrey invites her husband's longtime pal Jerry to stay with the family and they "discover hope and happiness in their new lives."
Into the Wild starring Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook. Young man travels across U.S. and into Alaska and dies in the wilderness.
Wild Women of Wongo starring Jean Hawkshaw, Johnny Walsh. The classic 1959 picture. The Wongo women reject their brutish men when the handsome Prince of Goona proposes the two tribes unite to fight off the Tribe of Ape Men.
Here is the story on this one. I originally ordered the 2007 picture The Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo produced by the creators and writers of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 with voice over comments ridiculing the original 1959 picture. We could not find a catalog record for Film Crew and sent it over to West Bend to have it cataloged. But, the notes attached to that DVD were lost and the staff there assumed the item was a donation. Since the selectors at West Bend decided not to add the "donation" they put it in their book sale and some lucky duck bought it and took it home.
Since the staff at West Bend erred, Director Michael offered to buy a replacement. I sent Mike the information for Film Crew but whoever ordered the replacement bought the original 1959 version. Since the original seems so wonderfully awful I'm just going to keep it.
30 Days of Night starring Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Vampires visit an Alaskan town in winter while the sun is gone for 30 days.
Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis. Animated telling of Beowulf.
Iceman Interviews. A compilation of three HBO programs on Richard Kuklinski. Kuklinski was a paid killer from New Jersey convicted for murder. He was interviewed on camera by psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz. Kuklinski was a scary guy.
In the Valley of Elah starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Soldier Mike Deerfield's father Hank goes searching for Mike after Mike disappears on his return from Iraq.
Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn, directed by Werner Herzog. Gustavus drop-out Zahn plays a fellow POW of Dieter Dengler. Both men plan escape from a Vietnamese POW prison camp.
Watch Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Learns to Fly to learn more about Dengler and his escape.
Chalk starring some dudes. Fake documentary style comedy about a struggling first year teacher and his colleagues. I read a good review in the Madison paper when this was in the theater.
Torchwood: the complete first season. A spin-off of the the latest Dr. Who. My wife was lobbying for me to buy this.
Land of the Dead starring John Leguizamo, Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper. A zombie movie? At the Lake Mills Library? Unthinkable! The latest entry in George A. Romero's zombie tale.
Sea Change starring Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sean Young, William Sadler. The fourth entry in Selleck's dramatizations of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone mystery series. These have been good movies.
Things We Lost in the Fire starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro. Audrey's loving husband dies in a fire leaving her and her children adrift. Audrey invites her husband's longtime pal Jerry to stay with the family and they "discover hope and happiness in their new lives."
Into the Wild starring Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook. Young man travels across U.S. and into Alaska and dies in the wilderness.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Fiction - Mostly Chick Lit
Fiction
What I Was by Meg Rosoff. Elderly man looks back on a 50 year friendship with a guy named Finn.
Waking Brigid by Francis Clark. Savannah, Georgia escaped most of the ravages of the Civil War and lies undamaged. Irish nun Brigid works in Savannah when a prominent citizen is somehow murdered alone in his cell at the insane asylum. Brigid's ability to speak to the dead is required by the church as they fight against the demons possessing the city.
Hell's Bay by James W. Hall. Thorn bums around the Florida Keys as a fisherman. While guiding a fishing tour in the mangroves of Hell's Bay long-lost relatives track him down asking for help in the murder of their matriarch. Trouble ensues.
Song Yet Sung by James McBride. Slave revolt in 1850 Maryland.
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore. Catherine Grace left small town Ringgold, Georgia for Atlanta. Brought back by family tragedy she wonders is she might belong in Ringgold after all.
Dakota by Martha Grimes. Sequel to Biting the Moon and amnesiac Andi Oliver's travels from job to job in the West. Working on a North Dakota pig farm a stranger tracks down Andi and demands answers about her past.
Senator's Wife by Sue Miller. Bestseller about one gal and her neighbor.
Souvenirs by Therese Fowler. I don't care. You can look it up.
L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. This is supposed to be real good. Celebrity crook Allison ends up at the murder scene of 10 people. Deputy Charlie Hood stops a crime witness from leaving. Action ensues.
Prepared for Rage by Dana Stabenow. A vengefull Pakistani backed by terrorist looks to sabotage a NASA shuttle launch in Florida. The Coast Guard patrols off shore and the FBI works with them.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Eight grade outcast Kate's new neighbor across the street is "coolest girl in the world" Tully. Kate and Tully become fast friends. "Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the mainstay of their lives."
Blech!
What I Was by Meg Rosoff. Elderly man looks back on a 50 year friendship with a guy named Finn.
Waking Brigid by Francis Clark. Savannah, Georgia escaped most of the ravages of the Civil War and lies undamaged. Irish nun Brigid works in Savannah when a prominent citizen is somehow murdered alone in his cell at the insane asylum. Brigid's ability to speak to the dead is required by the church as they fight against the demons possessing the city.
Hell's Bay by James W. Hall. Thorn bums around the Florida Keys as a fisherman. While guiding a fishing tour in the mangroves of Hell's Bay long-lost relatives track him down asking for help in the murder of their matriarch. Trouble ensues.
Song Yet Sung by James McBride. Slave revolt in 1850 Maryland.
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore. Catherine Grace left small town Ringgold, Georgia for Atlanta. Brought back by family tragedy she wonders is she might belong in Ringgold after all.
Dakota by Martha Grimes. Sequel to Biting the Moon and amnesiac Andi Oliver's travels from job to job in the West. Working on a North Dakota pig farm a stranger tracks down Andi and demands answers about her past.
Senator's Wife by Sue Miller. Bestseller about one gal and her neighbor.
Souvenirs by Therese Fowler. I don't care. You can look it up.
L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. This is supposed to be real good. Celebrity crook Allison ends up at the murder scene of 10 people. Deputy Charlie Hood stops a crime witness from leaving. Action ensues.
Prepared for Rage by Dana Stabenow. A vengefull Pakistani backed by terrorist looks to sabotage a NASA shuttle launch in Florida. The Coast Guard patrols off shore and the FBI works with them.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Eight grade outcast Kate's new neighbor across the street is "coolest girl in the world" Tully. Kate and Tully become fast friends. "Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the mainstay of their lives."
Blech!
Mysteries
Mysteries
Calumet City by Charlie Newton. Chicago cop Patty Black "redefines the word badass". The result of a broken home and numerous tragedies she is a tough gal in a tough job. When a chaotic raid on a drug-house reveals a body sealed inside a wall Patti's past starts coming back to haunt her.
Grave in Gaza by Matt Beynon Rees. Former school principal Omar Yussef now works for the UN inspecting schools in the Gaza Strip. A teacher is accused of working for the CIA and Yussef's Swedish boss is captured by gunmen. The UN pulls out it's staff after another worker is killed and Yussef tries to free both the teacher and the Swede. "To do so he must confront the corruption and violence of Gaza's warring government factions and untangle the links between the teacher's arrest, the kidnapping of his colleagues, the murder of an officer in one of the Palestinian security services, and a stolen missile."
Murder in the Rue de Paradis by Cara Black. Parisian gal Aimee says yes to the marriage proposal made when her lover returns from working in Egypt. The next day Aimee gets a call to identify the body of her new fiancee. Aimee looks for the killer.
Crows by Maris Soule. CPA P.J. Benson returns from walking her dog to find a dead man in her house. The police suspect her as the killer and P.J. starts to worry if the family history of schizophrenia has hit her when she receives weird phone calls and gets crows flying in her house.
I had a bat in the Library last night. I bet crows are worse than bats with all their feathers and droppings.
Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith. Numbskull cowboys Old Red and Big Red are devotees of Sherlock Holmes and his "deducifying". On a visit to San Francisco they set out to prove a dead friend's supposed suicide is murder.
Calumet City by Charlie Newton. Chicago cop Patty Black "redefines the word badass". The result of a broken home and numerous tragedies she is a tough gal in a tough job. When a chaotic raid on a drug-house reveals a body sealed inside a wall Patti's past starts coming back to haunt her.
Grave in Gaza by Matt Beynon Rees. Former school principal Omar Yussef now works for the UN inspecting schools in the Gaza Strip. A teacher is accused of working for the CIA and Yussef's Swedish boss is captured by gunmen. The UN pulls out it's staff after another worker is killed and Yussef tries to free both the teacher and the Swede. "To do so he must confront the corruption and violence of Gaza's warring government factions and untangle the links between the teacher's arrest, the kidnapping of his colleagues, the murder of an officer in one of the Palestinian security services, and a stolen missile."
Murder in the Rue de Paradis by Cara Black. Parisian gal Aimee says yes to the marriage proposal made when her lover returns from working in Egypt. The next day Aimee gets a call to identify the body of her new fiancee. Aimee looks for the killer.
Crows by Maris Soule. CPA P.J. Benson returns from walking her dog to find a dead man in her house. The police suspect her as the killer and P.J. starts to worry if the family history of schizophrenia has hit her when she receives weird phone calls and gets crows flying in her house.
I had a bat in the Library last night. I bet crows are worse than bats with all their feathers and droppings.
Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith. Numbskull cowboys Old Red and Big Red are devotees of Sherlock Holmes and his "deducifying". On a visit to San Francisco they set out to prove a dead friend's supposed suicide is murder.
Two DVDs: Michael Clayton and Steve Zahn
Michael Clayton starring George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, a burning car. Clayton works as a fixer for a high power law firm. No longer a lawyer, Clayton's work is to clean up messes. The firm's newly ethical whistleblowing lawyer is a big mess.
Comanche Moon starring Steve Zahn, Val Kilmer, Karl Urban, Wes Studi, Rachel Griffiths, Adam Beach. Gustavus drop-out Zahn and Karl Urban play Augustus McCray and Woodrow Call in this prequel to Lonesome Dove. I read that Val Kilmer took this job because he got the production to film on his New Mexico ranch. Kilmer did that for another picture too. Adam Beach is Canadian. Karl Urban is a Kiwi. Rachel Griffiths is Australian.
Comanche Moon starring Steve Zahn, Val Kilmer, Karl Urban, Wes Studi, Rachel Griffiths, Adam Beach. Gustavus drop-out Zahn and Karl Urban play Augustus McCray and Woodrow Call in this prequel to Lonesome Dove. I read that Val Kilmer took this job because he got the production to film on his New Mexico ranch. Kilmer did that for another picture too. Adam Beach is Canadian. Karl Urban is a Kiwi. Rachel Griffiths is Australian.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Music: a couple "Best of '07", Steve Earl's wife, some goofy guys
Rock
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon. Listed on several Best of 2007 lists. Catchy tunes from Austin, TX.
Wincing the Night Away by The Shins. Another of the Best of 2007. Dudes from New Mexico (I think).
The Black and White Album by The Hives. How did I miss ordering this before? Garage rock (according to Little Steven) via Sweden. Good stuff.
It Is Time For A Love Revolution by Lenny Kravitz.
Jazz
Nightmoves by Kurt Elling. Jazz vocalist Elling has a silly beard and wide acclaim. A Gustavus graduate.
Country
16 Biggest Hits by Alan Jackson. I need to buy more country music. Jackson's albums have circulated very well.
Mockingbird by Allison Moorer. Please tell me how fat, old Steve Earl married this gal. I know it's none of my business but I'm still curious about it. Earle plays guitar on one song. Moorer wrote one song and chose the rest. Nice singing voice that Moorer gal has.
Goofy Guys
Super Taranta! by Gogol Bordello. I have no idea what this is about. Some sort of rock n' roll performance art. Someone mentioned them to me in the bar at Tyranena. I need to get out more.
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon. Listed on several Best of 2007 lists. Catchy tunes from Austin, TX.
Wincing the Night Away by The Shins. Another of the Best of 2007. Dudes from New Mexico (I think).
The Black and White Album by The Hives. How did I miss ordering this before? Garage rock (according to Little Steven) via Sweden. Good stuff.
It Is Time For A Love Revolution by Lenny Kravitz.
Jazz
Nightmoves by Kurt Elling. Jazz vocalist Elling has a silly beard and wide acclaim. A Gustavus graduate.
Country
16 Biggest Hits by Alan Jackson. I need to buy more country music. Jackson's albums have circulated very well.
Mockingbird by Allison Moorer. Please tell me how fat, old Steve Earl married this gal. I know it's none of my business but I'm still curious about it. Earle plays guitar on one song. Moorer wrote one song and chose the rest. Nice singing voice that Moorer gal has.
Goofy Guys
Super Taranta! by Gogol Bordello. I have no idea what this is about. Some sort of rock n' roll performance art. Someone mentioned them to me in the bar at Tyranena. I need to get out more.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Two
Understanding Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: a commonsense guide for parents and professionals by Maggie Mamen.
Blood Brother by Nora Roberts. First book of a new horror triology.
Blood Brother by Nora Roberts. First book of a new horror triology.
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