Local Color - Rock Lake and Little Free Library

Rock Lake and Little Free Library

Little Free Library
Little Free Libraries were started a 2009.  They are small, usually freestanding boxes with a give one, take one philosophy.  This one is on Ray St. in Lake Mills.  I checked the map on the Little Free Library website and there are no official ones in NZ.











Rock Lake

Rock Lake is 1,371 acres.  The City has several public access points along the beach.  The most popular are Sandy Beach and Bartles Beach parks.  But, there are several smaller, and hidden away swim spots along the lakeside.

Off Hobbs St.








Private swim dock near the public swim spot.

Charlie Huston Returns

Fiction

Skinner by Charlie Huston.  I enjoy Huston's books but the book description on the dustjacket makes no sense.  Read it anyway.

Hidden Order by Brad Thor.  Secret government organization.  Assassination.  "Most dangerous chase ever to play on American soil."  Secret organization founded in 1700s.  So on, so forth.

Audiobooks on CD

Visiting Tom: a man, a highway, and the road to roughneck grace by Michal Perry.  7 CDs at 7.5 hours.  Michael Perry is a great performer and reads this himself.  Perry writes about his elderly neighbor whose farm was bisected by an interstate some decades before.  Perry also deals with the County's misguided plans for the road to Perry's own mini-farm.

Sovereign by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee.10 CDs at 12 hours.  SciFi with alive people and dead people.  The book description makes no sense.

Litte Green by Walter Mosley.  8 CDs at 10 hours.  An Easy Rawlins detective novel.  I have not read any of the Rawlins books in quite a while.  1967 Los Angeles has Easy looking for a missing young man who went missing after taking acid.

Silken Prey by John Sandford.  10 CDs at 12.5 hours.  Someone dies.

Jabber, Jabber, Jabber for 31.5 Hours

Audiobooks on CD

Fiction

One Heart to Win by Johanna Lindsey. 9 CDs at 10.5 hours.  Another shirtless cowboy carries around a saddle.  I had to carry the seven-year-old's bicycle last night.  The chain came off his bicycle and when I tried to put the chain back on the sprockets the mosquitoes were all over me.  I just carried the bike since we were a block from home.

Tuesday's Child by Fern Michaels.  8 CDs at 9 hours.  Lawyer helps client who is finally exonerated of murder after ten years in prison.  We (the ten-year-old as well) were swimming at Rock Lake.  No mosquitoes over the water but there was a honking big horse fly.


NonFiction

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan.  5 CDs at 5.5 hours.  Comedian tells funny stories.  I need some goggles.  I was trying to swim for some exercise and cannot do the crawl with my eyes closed, I always swerve to one side or the other.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg.  6 CDs at 6.5 hours.  Computer lady tells you how run a business. I've thought about going to the lake in the later evenings to swim but the mosquitoes were so thick at 7:30 PM that I'm not sure I want to try that.

Lutz's Bombshell Love for Unseen Affliction Panties

Fiction

The Last Word by Lisa Lutz.  Lutz was at last year's Murder and Mayhem in Muskego.  Lutz is an entertaining speaker.  I still have not read any of these humorous mysteries.  At least, I assume they are humorous.  I've never read one to know for certain.

Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich.  Big time athletic trainer offers to help out overweight, 32-year-old widow.  Romance ensues.

Bomb Shell by Catherine Coulter.  The book's back cover is Coulter's photo. She has bobbed, blond hair and a suede jacket.

Unseen by Karin Slaughter.  Slaughter's photo covers the back of her book too.  She also has blond hair but the photoshopping blurs everything except her head.

True Love by Jude Deveraux.  Another big author photo covering the back of the book.  Deveraux is in profile wearing some big coat.

Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton.  Another vampire sex book.  Hamilton also covers the back of the book.  Photographed inside a concrete warehouse room, Hamilton is wearing above-the-knee, lace-up, black boots.  Sitting sideways in a director's chair with one leg pointed high at 45 degrees.

Musical Interlude

Jake Bugg

Local Color

Local Color


Lake Mills Cars and Coffee was yesterday morning, July 7.



One website lists the new McLaren MP4-12C at $240,000.



Triumph row.




Town and Country Days

Town and Country Days runs from Thursday through mid-day Sunday during the last weekend in June. The Parade is Saturday morning. Yet again I do not have photos of my participation in the Boy Scout dunk tank.  Yet again, I do not have photos of me mocking the people who are unable to dunk me. 

Kids who marched for the Library's entry.  Right after a short rain burst.


Some of the rides assembled on East Lake Street.

Many, Many Movies

DVD

The Butt Bible with Pauline Nordin.  Three DVDs of exercises.  Some of you may want to take this home just to watch it.



Breaking Bad: Fifth Season starring Brain Cranston, other people.  I've never watched this show.  I've been busy the past five years.



Quartet starring Professor Minerva McGonagall and Professor Albus Dumbledore (v.2).  Home for retired musicians has retired musicians living there.


Happy People: a year in the Taiga by Werner Herzog.  300 person village in Siberia is reachable only by boat and helicopter.



Beverly Lewis' The Confession starring Katie Leclerc, Cameron Dean Stewart, Sherry Stringfellow.  Woman adopted by Amish finds her wealthy 'Englisher' family and romance and drama ensue.



Stoker starring Nicole Kidman, Dermot Mulroney, Mia Wasikowska.   18-year-old girl's father dies and her unknown uncle moves in with girl and her crazy mother.



Beverly Lewis' The Shunning starring Danielle Panabaker and Sherry Stringfield.  Additional Amish Intrigue.  This flick and the other flick - listed above - seem to share characters.



Oz the Great and Powerful starring CGI.  James Franco walks through CGI, talks to CGI, and pretends to see CGI.



ID:A starring [Danish].  Woman wakes up in a French river with 2 million Euros.  Excitement, thrills, and Nordic nastiness ensue.



Curb Your Enthusiasm: the complete eighth season starring Larry David.  I've never watched this show.  I've been busy the past eight years.



Rectify starring [no names on cover].  Guy is released from death row after 19 years.  Difficult transition ensues as French subtitles follow him around.

Sanctified Bacon Orchard

Fiction

Sanctified and Chicken Fried by Joe R. Lansdale.  Short stories by the Sage of Nacogdoches.  Forward written by the Bill Crider.



Second Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan.  A huge author photo of Patterson covers the whole back cover.  No photo of Roughan.

If You Were Here by Alafair Burke.  Dave Robicheaux's daughter writes best selling books.  I still have not gotten around to reading any of these.  Journalist investigating a story sees video of a friend who disappeared years before.

NonFiction

Bacon Nation: 125 irresistible recipes by Peter Kaminsky and Marie Rama.  Bacon is hip.  IN twenty years heart disease will be hip.

Large Print

Lemon Orchard by Luanne Rice.  Is this the audio book my wife listened to for her book club?  I'll never find out because my wife never reads this blog.

True Love by Jude Deveraux.  You know who else never reads this blog?  Bacon cooks.

Fiction From Fabulous Faust

Fiction

Fringe: the Zodiac paradox by Christa Faust.  Fabulous Faust fabricates fictional fun for Fringe fans.  Tie-in to the TV series.  It's 1971 and Walter Bishop's experiments with the subconscious unleash the Zodiac Killer.  I watched the movie Zodiac a couple months ago, it was good. 

NonFiction

Happily Ever After: a light-hearted guide to wedded bliss by Jane Fearly-Whittingstall.  Advice.

AudioBooks on CD

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan.  17 hours on 14 CDs.  Novel about marriage and marriages that has had a lot of press.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.  9.25 hours on 8 CDs.  Collection of eight stories.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg.  8.5 hours on 7 CDs.  Adventure and romance.  Read by some dude named Scott Brick.  That's a manly name isn't it?

Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver.  10 hours on 8 CDs.  Death Row murderer is offered legal help (and a sure commutation) from the victim's mother if the murderer tells what happened. 

Old Paperbacks

Donated paperbacks.  I'm not going to list them because the titles are older, we probably have hardcovers, and paperbacks are a browsing thing anyway.

Large Print

I'm not listing these either.  I don't want to.

Game of Mexican Gluten-Free Guns

NonFiction

Game of Thrones: the graphic novel: volume one by George R.R. Martin, Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson.  Part one of the comic book version.

Pati's Mexican Table: the secrets of real Mexican home cooking by Pati Jinich.  Goat meat.

Cooking for Your Gluten-Free Teen: everyday foods the whole family will love by Carlyn Berghoff, et al.  Yeah, I et al'ed all those people and their applesauce recipe.

Fast and Simple Gluten-Free by Gretchen F. Brown, R.D.  Ice cream, asparagus, chicken soup.

Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free Kitchen by Denise Jardine.  Some lady in the kids section downstairs just lectured her kids for wandering off.

Guns at Last Light: the war in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson.  Watch the BookTV interview at C-SPAN because they don't allow embedding.

Get the Guy: learn secrets of the male mind to find the man you want and the love you deserve by Matthew Hussey.  I want to read through this just to argue with the author.

AudioBook on CD

Crashed by Timothy Hallinan.  10.5 hours on 9 CDs.  Full time burglar is blackmailed into being a private detective for a Los Angeles mob boss.

Large Print

The Way Home by Katherine Spencer.  Continuation of a series by the dead author Thomas Kinkade.

Game of Thrones Comic Book

Fiction

Game of Thrones: the graphic novel: volume 2 by George R.R. Martin and Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson.  Aww, nuts.  This is volume two.  Volume one must not have come in yet.  This is the comic book version.  I have not watched the television program but I hear it has plenty of nudity.  I optimistically scanned through this.

Dead Inside by Victoria Houston.  Another mystery from the lady in Northern Wisconsin.  I'm currently reading a book set on Lake Superior's Northern Michigan shore. 

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver.  This book has been in the press a lot lately.  A convicted murderer on death row refuses to say what happened.  Even when the high-powered, politically-connected mother of the victim offers to get a commutation in return for the full story. 

Pines by Blake Crouch.  This won some sort of award.  Or was shortlisted for some sort of award.  Let me check the internets...oh, maybe not.  There will be some TV show version with Matt Dillon though. 

Crouch shows up at Murder and Mayhem in Muskego most every year but I've never spoken to him.  I prefer to stand around and wait for the coffee.  Then stand around and drink my coffee.  Then I walk around with my coffee looking to suck up to Victor Gischler.  Gischler is not scheduled for 2013.  Maybe I can walk around and suck up to Megan Abbott or Duane Swierczynski.

Sovereign by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee.  Third entry in the Book of Mortals series.  This series seems to be a different take on zombies or something.  The flyleaf descriptions on these books make no sense to me.

Scott Phillips and Sara Gran Arrive to Cure Your Summer Blues

Fiction

Rake by Scott Phillips.  American actor goes to Paris when his soap Opera hits big in France.  Much trouble ensues.  This novel released in France first.  Phillips made a book trailer.




Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway by Sara Gran.  Private Investigator Claire DeWitt follows the investigative philosopy of the enigmatic Jacques Silette and follows clues that mean nothing to anyone else.  Including you, the reader.  Good stuff.


The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg.  Hard driving FBI Special Agent is forced to team up with the con man she has been trying to arrest for years.  Drama, adventure, and romantic shenanigans ensue.

Goldberg has been promoting this like crazy.  I'm annoyed CBS nixed him from this interview.  I'm more interested in Goldberg's comments than Evanovich's, you can hear her anytime.  Try out Goldberg's King City.



Large Print

Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.  I was reading the first few pages when the power was just out.

Silken Prey by John Sandford.  Minnesota murder.

Astronauts and Large Print

NonFiction

Astronaut Wives Club: a true story by Lily Koppel.  Lives of the astronauts wive in the 1950s through 1970s.  Page 142 says, "Someone kept a flow of coffee on the burner and the emptied the ashtray filled by the chain-smoking artiste."

Large Print

Comfort of Lies by Randy Susan Meyers.  Page 314 says, "He unbuttoned her shirt."

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.  Page 159 says, "It weighed on me."

Benediction by Kent Haruf.  Page 10 says, "I'll call her."

A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre.  Page 329 says, "Toby did."

Zero Hour by Clive Cussler.  Page 283 says, "The flare only lasted another ten seconds, but Joe had also found a flashlight."

David the Page Went on a Processing Tear

Fiction

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.  I hope this guy doesn't have a middle name beginning with K.  Big-time summer novel with lots of press. Comedy with "superrich, pedigreed Chinese families."  I expected Kwan to have gooped up, spiky hair in his author photo.  Nope.

Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.  Time traveling serial killer hunts really smart young women.  A would be victim escapes and figures out what is happening.  Beukes does not have spiky hair either.  She lives in Cape Town, I wonder if she knows Roger Smith.  Smith has written some excellent novels.

9th Girl by Tami Hoag.  Serial killer murder mystery that starts in Minneapolis by an author that lives in Florida.

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.  178 pages?  Probably took Gaiman two days for the whole thing.  Gaiman used to live in Wisconsin.  Over near Minneapolis, I think.  Gaiman's hair is not spiky, it's just messy.

The Son by Philipp Meyer.  1849 Texas and a kid is kidnapped and raised by Comanches.  When the Indian Wars end the adult has no place to be.  Who was the real guy who was kidnapped and became a Comanche chief?    Or am I getting confused about Quanah Parker whose mother was kidnapped as a child and Quanah became a chief?

Revenge Wears Prada: the devil returns by Lauren Weisenberger.  Nice author photo but after looking at a website showing fashion photoshopping I am very suspicious.  Which is not fair to Weisenberger because even if the photo is all touched up it looks like she didn't need any.  Now I sound like a suck-up.

Flat Water Tuesday by Ron Irwin.  Competitive rowing at boarding school and the blue-collar kid with a rowing scholarship.  Hey!  Irwin also lives in Cape Town.  Maybe Irwin, Beueks and Smith should meet for coffee.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan.  Another big summer novel.  Sullivan lives in Brooklyn along with a boatload of other writers.  I think Megan Abbott lives there.

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky.  Some novel.

Sparta by Roxana Robinson.  Iraq War veteran returns to New York state.  "Something has gone wrong, though things should be fine: he hasn't been shot or wounded; he's never had psychological troubles."

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo.  More Norwegian crime to make author Anthony Neil Smith all giggly with anticipation.  Nesbo has a shaved head.  During winter I see dudes with shaved heads and without hats.  Man, during winter I wear a hat when I'm inside.  Heck, there are a couple guys around town who wear shorts in January.

Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.  Science Fiction with an impenetrable summary on the flyleaf. Pratchett and Baxter both live in England.  Pratchett and Baxter are both bald. 

Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow.  Rich Manhattan family finds out the attorney dad ran things on empty bank accounts.  Dad dies and family is in trouble.

What to Read 50: Joe R Lansdale

What to Read 50: Joe R Lansdale

Silver Monkey Girl

Fiction

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls. Memoirist writes novel about the kind of stuff her memoir covered.

Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith.  Scotsman writes love stories themed on train settings.

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiassen.  King Kong?  Mighty Joe Young?  Clyde the orangutan?  Miami insanity with humor.

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards.  This looks like a Young Adult novel.  In 2788 only people with weak immune systems live on earth.  Teen girl fakes an ID to hang out with "norms".

One Heart to Win by Johanna Lindsey.  Cowboy who forgot how to button his shirt walks around with a saddle.

Zero Hour by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown.  Helicopter and speedboat get into a flaming shootout next to the Sydney Opera House.

Large Print

Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs.

Fly Away by Kristin Hannah.

Seventh Victim by Mary Burton.

Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes.

Perfect Timing by Catherine Anderson.

Shadow People by James Swain.  Hey, this isn't large print.  This was misclassified.

Seduction by M.J. Rose.

Unwritten by Charles Martin.  

Another Commentary on Author Photos

Fiction

Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz.  Sitting on outdoor sculpture with lots of hair.  No dogs this time.

Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver.  Bald.  Striped Shirt.  Indoor portrait with dark background.  Deaver is a good guy.  I emailed him a couple years ago to thank him for coming to Murder and Mayhem in Muskego and he responded saying thanks in return. Deaver had a very good short story about a mathematician turned policeman in the mystery story compilation Transgressions.

Classified by Fern Michaels.  Same photo of her on a couch with three dogs.  She does not look happy.  Her expression says, "Let's get this over with, I have books to write and dogs to walk."

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham.  Graham was a big-time TV star so I expected a much bigger photo on the back to sell this.  She is sitting on outdoor furniture, bending forward to put her hands on her elevated knees.  Hoop earrings.

Dunedin Public Library "Geek to Chic" Fashion Show

They repeated this neat program in March.









Dig the hair.


Obligatory book display

Is This Blog Still Active?

Yes

Renovation Celebration on June 1st

This was a fairly low-key event.  I said a few things.  A representative of the Library Friends said a few things.  The City Administrator said a few things.  A Library Board member said a few things.  (My comments were the best.)

The broad in the pink shirt cut the cake for me.


That kid in the blue shirt kept asking if he could have more cake.



Cars and Coffee, June 2nd 

The "fancy car place" downtown hosts Cars and Coffee one Sunday a month.  You can buy coffee and Gelato at Sweet Lips Cafe. 

Ole Ford coupe.


Ferrari 330


Ferrari Dino GT


A little later in the morning, some cars had already left.




DVD

Golf's Grand Design: the history of American golf course architecture produced by PBS.  Some sort of golf show.

Renovation Celebration June 1st, 2013, 9 AM to 12 PM

Renovation Celebration

June 1st, 2013

9AM to 12 PM

Music

Melodic Sounds Purposefully Performed and Re-Produced Through Electrical Impulses

Electric by Richard Thompson.  Famed guitarist plays guitar and sings songs.




Son of Rogues Gallery: pirate ballads, sea songs, and chanteys by [various].  A multitude of singers sing old sea songs.




Adam Ant is the Blueback Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter by Adam Ant.  AllMusic.com gave a mixed review that resulted in rating of 4/5. Yes, I did attend his concert in Milwaukee this past winter.  He's playing another date in Milwaukee at the end of the summer.

Barbara Allen's Dirty Poetry

NonFiction

Know Soil, Know Life edited by David L. Lindbo,et al.  A donation from the Soil Society of America. Pretty neat with nice photos, maps, and charts.

Fiction

Antiques Disposal by Barbara Allen.  Max Allan Collins and his wife Barbara Collins perform a Vulcan Mind Meld and the results appear in paperback featuring a fluffy dog and crime solving in Eastern Iowa.  Collins freely admits his first novel was a rip-off of the Parker books (see below).  Collins's Quarry series is sorta similar to Parker novels and the Quarry books are excellent.

Close Is Fine by Eliot Treichel.  Short stories set in rural Wisconsin by a guy who lives in Oregon. Oregon state not Oregon, WI.  I'm going to read this.

Poetry

Sailing to Babylon by James Pollock.  Canadian living in Wisconsin writes poems about Glenn Gould on the Telephone (p. 25).

ROTC Kills by John Koethe.  Former Poet Laureate of Wisconsin still writes poems while

I'm waiting at the bar at Gene's, a place
On West Eleventh Street, just down the street
From the Larchmont Hotel, where I usualy stay
When I'm in New York.  I come to New York a lot
Since I've retired (from what? someone asked).

DVD

True Blood: the complete fifth season starring Anna Paquin, others.  Vampires, death and romance in Mississippi or Georgia.  Oh, wait.  It's in Louisiana.  Is Victor Gischler in this?  People sure do like this show.


Parker starring Jason Staham and Jennifer Lopez.  The latest adaptation of a Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) novel featuring Parker, a thief.

Concert Movie, TV Movie, Sociopaths

DVD

Some Girls: live in Texas '78 by the Rolling Stones.  Filmed in Fort Worth on July 18, 1978. [Insert you own cracks about ticket prices here.]



Abducted: the Carla White story starring Aunjanue Ellis Keke Palmer, Roger Cross.  Girl kidnapped as infant shortly after birth suspects her fake mother is a fake.  [Insert your own Lifetime Network jokes here.]




Audiobooks on CD

Confessions of a Sociopath: a life spent hiding in plain sight by M.E. Thomas.  9 CDs 10 hours.  Sociopath brags.  Sociopath is an accomplished attorney and law professor.  [Insert your own lawyer jokes here.]

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo.  11 CDs at 14 hours.  Oslo policeman Harry Hole investgates the murder of a Salvation Army singer at Christmastime.  Narrated by the excellent and awesome John Lee.  [Insert your own Ole and Lena jokes here.]

Undaunted: the real story of America's servicewomen in today's military by Tanya Biank.  10 CDs at 11.5 hours.  Problems unique to women service members.  [Insert you own shoe jokes here.]

20,000 Echoed Dreams

Fiction

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.  Literary novelist writes literary novel.  Something about a couple kids in Afghanistan.

NonFiction

Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams by Theresa Cheung. Dream interpretations from different cultures.  Last night I dreamt my 7-year-old was horribly misbehaving and I woke up angry.  Then the 10-year-old came into the bedroom poking and shoving me and telling me to wake up and I hollered at him.

Town and Country Days Parade

Parade Entry Form by Library Director.  The parade entry form has a section for the parade announcer to read off information on each parade entrant.  Here is my first draft.

The L.D. Fargo Public Library is 111 years old this year and continues to exert it’s dominance over downtown Lake Mills.  Over the past century the library has defeated the fads and threats of telephones, radio, mas market paperbacks, microfilm, motion pictures, television, cable television, cell phones, computers, and the internet.  L.D. Fargo crushes all all competitors with a vicious two handed swipe of brick and mortar.  Bend to our will.

Bring your kids to our Friday morning storytime at 10:30 AM.

More Large Print

See?  More Large Print

Stuff and Nonsense (Tim Finn Free)

Fiction

A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre.  Le Carre was born in 1931.  This book was born in 2013.  A successful counterintelligence operation may not have been a success.

Dead, White and Blue by Carolyn Hart.  The title reminds me of Sheriff Dan Rhodes in Red, White and Blur Murder where Rhodes gets beat up by a woman.  Twice.

Blossom Sisters by Fern Michaels.  I've said my piece about these sister titles.

Bat in the Belfry by Sarah Graves.  Home Repair is Homicide book.  Graves bio on the flyleaf says she lives in a house from 1823.  Was it as uninsulated as my 1890 house is now?

Silken Prey by John Sandford.  The Prey novels are Anthony Neil Smith's newest obsession.  This one has Lucas Davenport investigating thefts of silk worms n Edina.  Maybe.

12th of Never by James Patterson Literary Industries Amalgamated.  ___ _____ __ ___ _____ ___ _____ ____.  The blog post is like the plot.  Just fill in the blanks.

Secretly Smitten by Four Women Whose Names I Don't Want to Check for Spelling.  Three granddaughters find some dog tags in their grandmother's attic.

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris.  One of those vampire things by Harris.

Inferno by Dan Brown.



Best Man by Kristan Higgins.  Paperback romance because people enjoy paperback romances. I don't know if people enjoy having the image of the dog on the front cover flipped and put on the back cover.  I don't enjoy that.  I am always annoyed when a graphic artist flips photos.

Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer.  Here is a worst kept secret about Archer: he lied in court and went to prison for it.

Tegan & Sara Mythology Echoes Next Day's Old Sock

Music on Thin, Round, Shiny Things

Set You Free by Gary Allan. Singer sings songs about defense attorneys?



O.N.I.F.C by Wiz Khalifa. Heavily tattooed singer raps songs about acronyms?



To Be Loved by Micahel Buble. Canadian sings songs of longing?



The 2nd Law by Muse. Singers sings songs of "keep and bear arms"?

Old Sock by Eric Clapton. Guitarist sings songs of darning?



All That Echoes by Josh Groban. Singer sings while spelunking?



The Next Day by David Bowie. Singer sings of Thursday?



Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara. Different Canadian singers sing about fellow Canadian Justin Bieber?



Mythology by Celtic Thunder. Irish singers sing about Hercules?

Renovation Delays Bring Not-So-New DVD

DVD - The John Goodman Edition

Silver Linings Playbook starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro.  Guy meets girl.




Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis.  Guy meets self.




The Sessions starring Helen Hunt and John Hawkes.  Guy meets sex surrogate.



Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonard CiCaprio.  Guy meets slave.




Flight starring Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle.  Guy meets liquor bottle.




Argo starring Ben Affleck, Meth Guy, Alan Arkin, John Goodman.  Guy meets spy.




End of Watch starring Jake Welsh Name, Michael Pena. Guy meets gang member.




Stolen starring Nicolas Cage, Danny Huston , Josh Lucas.  Guy meets overacting.  Beware the cursing.

More Large Print? Good Thing We Adjusted the Shelving.

Large Print

Taking Eve by Iris Johansen.  A pai rof black leather boots and a sheave-less knife tucked into a boot buckle.

Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer.  Photo of 1930's car has reflection of modern cars in shiny chrome.

Unintended Consequences by Stuart Woods.  Argh.

The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick. ...carries a derringer under the skirt of her red dress.

Robert B. Parker's Wonderland by Ace Atkins.  Yes, that is the full title.  Bill Crider was a long time fan of Parker and said he would not try the Atkins novels out.  "It's time for me to move on," he said. I do not know if he changed his mind.

I just saw a comment by Big Shot Novelist Lee Goldberg about this book:  Loving @aceatkinsbooks Spenser novel WONDERLAND. It's remarkable how he flawlessly captures Parker voice.

Blossom Sisters by Fern Michaels.  I read a book called Bird Sisters.  We have another book called Weird Sisters. And don't forget:

Blood Sisters
Slither Sisters
Three Sisters
Red Thread Sisters
True Sisters
Gilly Salt Sisters
Snoop Sisters
Daisy Sisters
Satan's Sisters
Zabime Sisters
Between Sisters
Missing Sisters

Shelving Is Up and Books Are Returned.

Books Are Not Shelved

More Renovation Photos

New Rear Vestibule

Collins, Cook, Keret, Knopf

Fiction

Seduction of the Innocent by Max Allan Collins.  From modern pulp publisher Hard Case Crime.  Collins sets this among the 1950s comic book scare where comics were blamed for corrupting American youth.  After the murder of [someone not named on the cover] a publisher's troubleshooter starts snooping.

Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret.  Keret creates a compendium of crazy cats killing caught comatose crayfish quickly carried catty-corner across Cari Click's Cooper Cars.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.  Horror novel.  Hill has a Triumph motobike.  From the author photo it looks to be a new one, not a '60s one.

Point and Shoot by Duane Swierczynski.  The third and final novel in the fast moving and fun Charlie Hardy series.  Swizzlelelteinksi will be at Murder and Mayhem In Muskego at the Muskego Public Library this fall.

Evil In All Its Disguise by Hilary Davidson.  Davidson is Canadian.

Dead Anyway by Chris Knopf.  This came out a few months ago and is supposed to be a very well done thriller.

A Murder of Wolves by Gary J. Cook.  From what I can tell Cook publishes a new novel every 10 years or so.  This had an advert in Library Journal or Booklist.  I looked up Cook's previous work, he had good reviews, I gave it a shot.  Two undercover sheriff's deputies are assaulted by people looking to buy computer chips used in weapons guidance systems.  The deputies escape to the book's cover photo and drive around in a blue Subaru shooting a rifle out the passenger window.

Iscariot by Tosca Lee.  Novel about Judas. Lee has shiny, long, black hair.  Author bio says Lee "makes her home in the Midwest."  Heck, depending on who you ask the Midwest is anywhere from Ohio to west Kansas.  Whom?

Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein.  Another fun mystery novel featuring policeman John Ceepak working the beach resort town of Sea Haven, New Jersey.

Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes.  "Jacket design by Olga Grlic."

Tuesday's Gone by Nicci French.  Nicci French is Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.  They are Limeys.  They wrote this book about a London psychotherapist who has to interview a psychotic about a dead body.

38.5 Hours of Paris

Audiobooks on CD
 
Paris by Edward Rutherford.  30 CDs at 38.5 hours.  Moving back and forth in time across centuries, the story unfolds through intimate and vivid tales of self-discovery, divided loyalty, passion, and long-kept secrets of characters both fictional and real, all set against the backdrop of the glorious city ...and sidewalks covered in dog poop.

Wedding Knight by Sophie Kinsella.  11 CDs at 13 hours.  This has three narrators.  Woman decides to marry her pal and fulfill their pact to marry at 30 years of age if both are still single.  Woman's family is aghast and try sabotage.  I made a pact with myself to go to lunch at noon.

Uncompressed Versus Compressed

Uncompressed

15.5 inches high




Compressed

14.75 inches high.

The Title Is Descriptive Of How I Feel Hearing It

DVD

Le Miserables starring Two Australians and That Tall Lady.  There are so many things I could write about this, none are complimentary.




Lincoln starring an Englishman, A Texan, and Former-Child-Star-Who-Is-Not-A-Junkie.  Lots of talking and natural light.



Life of Pi directed by University of Illinois graduate Ang Lee.  The book was much better than I expected.  I suppose the flick can be the same.




The Bible starring Dudes With Long Hair, Romans.  "Breathtaking in scope and scale."  Can't everything be CGI'ed into scope and scale? 10 episodes.




Aldo Leopold at Faville Grove by Charles Johannsen.  Renown environmentalist Aldo Leopold started preserving native prairie around Lake Mills in the 1930s.  Johannsen covers the prairie restoration and interviews Leopold's former students.

I think Johannsen, or a pal, did this from downtown Lake Mills featuring local guitarist Paul Filipowicz.

One Book. One Photo.

Fiction

Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg.  I think Berg is still a best seller.  I've never read any of her books.I have read some sci-fi novels by Elizabeth Moon.  I read three of Moon Vatta's War novels and were decent but Moon seemed to dragging things out to fill in the multi-volume series.  I should read or listen to the fifth and last one, Victory Conditions.

Moon does not have alien characters but there are culture clashes by people from different planets.  Lots of political and corporate espionage and scheming.  Moon well described the tactics and planning used by space ships for faster-than-light maneuvering battles.

Photo

Diverted water from Rock Lake during road and bridge construction.

Library Re-Opens Tomorrow

Library Re-opens Tomorrow

The rear door is closed to the public.  Enter through the front or East side doors.

Don't Let the Snow Keep You Away

Math and Violence

DVD

The Story of Math presented by Marcus du Sautoy.  I think this is actually two math documentaries, The Story of Math and The Code.




Rust and Bone starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.  I liked the book by Craig Davidson.  This movie has some Europeans using part of the story to make a movie.  The same director made the prison-crime flick Prophet.  Prophet was good, you can borrow it from the library.



The Raid: redemption starring [Indonesian guys you never heard of].  Shoot'em-up in a Jakarta slum.


Easy Money starring [Swedes].  I listened to the audio version of the crime novel and really liked it.  I plugged the novel on the library's Facebook page but I bet no one read it anyway.




Perks of Being a Wallflower starring Logan Lerman, Hermione Granger, Some Other Kid.  I liked this book, too.  I don't care about the movie.


Cleanskin starring Sean Bean.  Not from a novel.  British spy has to find and stop English-born terrorist.

Main Street Is Still Closed

Main Street

The 100-year-old brick bridge that covers the spillway from the lake started collapsing.  Part of the roadway fell in and Main St. has been blocked for several days.


Looking North on Main Street.


Piping to divert Rock Lake water from the dam to the creek.


The pip crosses Main Street and goes across a parking lot into the creek.  That blacktop is part of the parking lot.


From the wooden foot bridge across the pipes.  Looking East to Main Street.


Pipers going into Rock Lake and four generators to run the pumps.


Looking South on Main Street.  Drilling next to that building on the left.



There has been a lot of rain making this very muddy work.

Photos. Again.

Photos

They'll keep coming until the renovation ends.

Children's area is pretty much done.  Hardware is now installed on the bathroom door.


Packing up adult fiction and nonfiction then disassembling the shelving


New countertop.




New Young Adult area just needs some more sawdust.

More Renovation

Renovation

Eight Books WIth 2788 Numbered Pages

Fiction

Sleight of Hand by Phillip Margolin.  "A novel of suspense." By an author from Portland.

Don't Go by Lisa Scottoline.  Scottline is wearing hoop earrings and bracelets.  I though Scottoline did mysteries and thrillers.  Yep, she does, this is something new with a guy whose wife dies.

A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde.  Page 305 says, "She saw Ali and Luke standing by the car from some way away."

Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell.  Page 255 says, "You're hard."

Unintended Consequences by The Stuart Woods Cooperative for Advanced Thriller Writing.  Cover photo is the Eiffel Tower.




Midnight at Marble Arch by Anne Perry.  Lots of words formed into sentences, paragraphs and chapters.

Secrets From the Past by Barbara Taylor Bradford.  Here is a secret from my past, I ate the last rice krispie on Saturday.

Daddy's Gone a Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark.  AKA November in Wisconsin. 

Ten Movies, but Fourteen Discs

DVDs

Skyfall starring Daniel Craig and other English.  Super spy guy in the sky.

The Hobbit: an unexpected journey starring Hobbits, Dwarves.  Road trip movie of wacky short guys and a crazy old guy.

Zero Dark Thirty starring That One Guy and That One Gal.  A brave helicopter thinks he can, thinks he can, and thinks he can and then crashes onto a wall.

Friends With Kids starring Actors.  A sad sack adult's only friends are children.

Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep.  Meryl Streep pretends to be a politician. Len Price was not a fan.




Silent Hill: Revelation starring Sean Bean.  Sean Bean and Malcolm McDowell.  Malcolm McDowell? In a horror movie?  Remember Blue Thunder?




Bully starring High School Kids.  Christa Faust wrote that this is good.

Killing Them Softly starring Brad Pitt and a Mossberg shotgun.  Brad Pitt wears lots of hair products and kills people.



Parental Guidance starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, Mairsa Tomei, and That Guy From That Thing You Do and Southland.

21 Jump Street starring Hip Actors.  Hip Actors pretend to be high school students.  Hijinks.