monday april 07
I'm pretty sure I have "momnesia". Example one: I put our dog (a notorious fence jumper) outside, meaning to watch over him to make sure he didn't escape. I then went back inside and forgot to go back out again. Hours later my neighbor showed up at the door with the dog, who, of course, had jumped the fence and was roaming happily throughout our neighborhood. Example two: Not long after my twins were born, I went to vacuum our carpet only to discover that the vacuum cleaner wouldn't work. When my husband came home from work, the vacuum cleaner worked fine for him. It was only then that I realized--I had turned the vacuum cleaner on, but had completely forgotten to plug it in. Example three: well, you get the picture.
According to Dr. Louann Brizendine, my "condition" has a name--"momnesia". Brizendine, author of the book The Female Brain, says that "momnesia" is "a state of the female brain that is a bit forgetful after a woman has had a baby". It's influenced by "the wildly fluctuating flood of hormones that accompanies pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding".
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friday october 12
Just in time for Halloween--a scintillating, sizzling, sexy array of paranormal chick lit. Whether vampires are your thing, or demons turn you on, you're guaranteed to find something to read here:
friday september 28
For those of you who think that British chick lit begins and ends with Bridget Jones's Diary, do I have news for you! The chick lit genre is teeming with great British authors. For a hilarious (and mostly true) introduction to British chick lit, check out A Yankee Girl's Guide to Brit Chick Lit. According to the author, some of the differences between British chick lit heroines and their American counterparts: the British "drink like fishes", "slather themselves with scent", and "always seem to be wearing disreputable, grayish underwear when Mr. Right finally comes along and sweeps them off their feet." Did I pique your interest? Then read on for a list of some of my favorite British chick lit authors and their most recent books:
friday september 07
If you're looking for a new mystery series to delve into, I highly recommend Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series. The Baltimore-based series began in 1997 with Baltimore Blues. Tess, an ex-reporter-turned-PI, enjoys rowing, food, and arguing with her large extended family. In this, her first case, a fellow rower asks Tess to investigate his fiancee, whom he believes is having an affair with her boss. When the boss, a prominent lawyer, ends up dead, Tess must fight to find the real killer and clear her friend's name. Tess is nothing if not a dogged investigator and has a habit of putting herself into dangerous situations. A statuesque redhead with a quick temper and fierce loyalty to both her boyfriend and slightly wacky (not to mention slightly corrupt) family, Tess is one PI you won't want to miss. If you enjoy Baltimore Blues, you'll want to read all of Tess's adventures, including the latest, No Good Deeds.
Lippman has won many awards for her work, including the Edgar, Shamus, Agatha, and Anthony awards. She is also the author of three stand-alone thrillers: What the Dead Know, about the disappearance of two sisters; To the Power of Three, about a school shooting; and Every Secret Thing, about the murder of a young child by two adolescents.
friday august 10
The weather's not the only thing that's hot and steamy these days. This summer's batch of new romances are just as sultry. If you're in the mood for a little romance (and perhaps one or two or ten scorching love scenes), check out these latest titles. They're guaranteed to raise your temperature a degree or two.
Historical Romance:
Romantic Suspense:
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wednesday august 01
The Discovery Channel is in the midst of their annual Shark Week celebration. From July 29th-August 4th, Discovery is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Shark Week. Tonight's episode, "Perfect Predators", airs at 9 pm. The Newport Aquarium is also getting in on the fun with Shark Fest. Receive free giveaways, pet sharks, and see sharks fed daily. For those of you obsessed with shark attacks (and I know you're out there), check out the International Shark Attack File. It might surprise some of you to learn that Florida, not Australia, leads the world in shark attacks. Since 1990, Florida has seen 365 attacks, compared to Australia's 94.
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friday july 13
One of my favorite mystery authors is Texas native Susan Wittig Albert. Of her series, her most well-known is probably the one starring former lawyer-turned-herbal shop owner China Bayles. China co-owns a tea shop and catering business with her best friend Ruby Wilcox in Pecan Springs, Texas, where the two women have a knack for stumbling across dead bodies and sticking their noses into dangerous situations. Every mystery includes some great recipes and tips for using herbs in either cooking or medicinally. The latest is Spanish Dagger.
China Bayles' Book of Days is a non-fiction companion to the series, complete with recipes, crafts, and gardening tips.
Albert also pens an Edwardian mystery series with her husband, Bill, under the pseudonym Robin Paige. Death on the Lizard is the latest entry. You might also want to check out her Beatrix Potter series, including The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood.
friday june 15
Do you love to cook? Are you always on the lookout for a fantastic new recipe? Then you might want to peruse the library's listing of recipe websites. If you prefer reading about food to cooking it (and don't mind a little murder mixed in here and there), then check out the following culinary mysteries:
- Dark Tort--Diane Mott Davidson--Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz tries to solve the mysterious death of Dusty Routt, a promising young paralegal.
- The Flaming Luau of Death--Jerrilyn Farmer--While throwing a bachelorette party in Hawaii for a valued employee, event planner Madeline Bean feels compelled to investigate when a body washes up on the beach.
- Key Lime Pie Murder--Joanne Fluke--When a teacher is found murdered during Lake Eden's bakery contest, Minnesota resident and bakery owner Hannah Swensen once again plays amateur sleuth to unmask a murderer.
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friday may 25
Good things about being pregnant: Cute clothes (for you and the baby). Ultrasound pictures. Feeling the baby kick. People letting you go first in the bathroom line because they're afraid you might go into labor. Bad things about being pregnant: Nausea. Exhaustion. People who insist you're having twins because "nobody could be that big and not be having twins" (thanks, that makes me feel tons better). Not being able to shave your legs because you lost sight of them months ago. Complete strangers asking if they can rub your belly for good luck (answer: what do I look like, an oversized rabbit's foot?).
If all this sounds familiar to you (or you're just dying to know how you, too, can skip to the front of the restroom line), then read Jenny McCarthy's very funny and very frank Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth. It's an informative and often sidesplitting look at the wacky, weird, wonderful world of pregnancy.
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wednesday may 16
The dreaded first year of parenthood. Your parents, friends, co-workers and people on the street have probably all warned you about it. Sleepless nights. Hours-long crying episodes. Diaper explosions. Colic. And on and on and on. Now that I've scared off everyone in the "planning for a baby" stage, erase those images from your mind and picture...The first time your baby smiles at you. The first time they fall asleep on your chest. The first time they grab your hand or pat your cheek.
If you need more convincing (and could use a good laugh), then read Stefanie Wilder-Taylor's Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay, and Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom, in which the L.A.-based comedienne discusses sharing parenting duties, the trials and tribulations of breastfeeding, and bonding (or not) with other new moms.
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wednesday may 09
Right now my toddler has a cold and is pretty miserable. Which means I'm pretty miserable. She doesn't care to blow her nose, instead preferring her sleeve. She also doesn't care to take her medicine, instead preferring to spit it back out (usually on me). Getting a two-year-old out of the house on a good day takes forever. When she doesn't feel well, and insists on carting her teddy, two blankets, Elmo, Tigger, and several dolls into the car with her---well, you might as well give it up.
It's on days like this that I'm reminded of Kate Reddy, heroine of Allison Pearson's ode to working moms, I Don't Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother.
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thursday may 03
Today, I’m kicking off my monthlong tribute to mothers by looking at the often tempestuous, never boring mother-daughter relationship. One of my favorite novels about this subject is Wendy French’s sMothering (check out the great cover!) In it, 23-year-old Claire McLeod, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is astonished (and frightened) when her domineering mother arrives on her doorstep. Refusing to say why she’s left Claire’s dad, her mother immediately sets about reorganizing her apartment, interfering in her love life, and generally making Claire’s life a living hell. It’s a hilarious and often poignant send-up of the complicated love that exists between mother and daughter.
Looking for other great reads? Then check out Kris Radish’s The Sunday List of Dreams, Dani Shapiro’s Black & White, Jo-Ann Mapson’s The Owl & Moon Café, and Kelly Braffet’s Last Seen Leaving.
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wednesday april 25
Today marks the beginning of the Romantic Times Annual Booklovers Convention, held this year in Houston, Texas. The event is sold out, so if you don't already have your ticket, you'll have to make do with these recent releases by some of today's best romance writers. Warning: some are hotter than others.
Historical Romance:
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tuesday april 10
As referenced in a previous post, April is National Gardening Month. The library has something to pique the interest of every gardener, whether you're dealing with a gardening challenge (too much shade, too little space) or trying to develop a focus (a color-themed garden or container gardening). Dig in!
- If you feel like your front yard could use a little sprucing up, check out The Welcoming Garden for ideas on how to turn it into a gardener's paradise.
- Shade puts a positive spin on this gardening challenge by addressing the different types of shade and the plants that thrive there.
- Garden lovers who love to garden but who have very little space to do it in should pick up Plants for Small Spaces.
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friday march 30
Life with a young child can be pretty amusing. Case in point: my two-year-old likes to put her doll in timeouts for "biting" and loves to wrap our labrador retriever up in her blanket for "night-night" (she also likes to blow his nose for him--don't ask). My husband and I find her antics hilarious. If you're looking for more hilarity in your own life, check out the library's collection of comedy books and cd's. They're guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. Here's a small selection:
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thursday march 15
Break out that ugly green turtleneck you've been dying to wear and get ready to celebrate--St. Patrick's Day is almost here! Cincinnati's Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is this Saturday. Corned beef, cabbage, and Guinness can be had at Newport's or Mason's Claddagh Irish Pub. If you're looking for a quieter way to commemorate the holiday, check out some of these novels set in Ireland.
In recent years, mystery writers have found Ireland a fertile ground for murder and mayhem. Lake of Sorrows, Erin Hart's sequel to Haunted Ground, is a prime example. In it, pathologist Nora Gavin is sent to the bogs of Central Ireland to investigate two recently discovered corpses, one ancient, the other recent. Other good mysteries set in Ireland include Ken Bruen's Priest, Carol Anne O'Marie's Murder at the Monk's Table, and Dicey Deere's The Irish Village Murder (all three are the latest titles in series).
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wednesday march 07
I don't profess to be the world's best gardener, but I do love flowers, so I was very excited the other day when I noticed my spring bulbs peeking through the dirt. Soon my yard will be awash in brightly-colored crocus, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips. If spring can't come fast enough for you, you might want to indulge yourself with a few of these garden-themed mysteries.
- Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert--In Pecan Springs, Texas, herbalist and tea shop owner China Bayles investigates the murder of Tim Duffy, the high school football coach.
- Death in the Orchid Garden by Ann Ripley--On location in Hawaii to film an episode of her popular gardening show, Louise Eldridge probes the beating death of a well-known botanist.
- Bindweed by Janis Harrison--When her mentally handicapped assistant, Toby, is killed by a deliberately-planted nest of killer bees, River City, Missouri florist Bretta Solomon vows to find Toby's murderer.
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thursday march 01
What do you do when your husband of three years dies from cancer? For 36-year-old Sophie Stanton, the answer is easy: gorge yourself on Oreos and fall asleep curled up with your husband's old shirts. When Sophie starts showing up for work in her robe and slippers, her boss suggests that she take a leave of absence. Sophie takes things a step further by selling her Silicon Valley house and moving to a small Oregon village, where she finds a waitressing job and begins mentoring an emotionally fragile 13-year-old girl. By turns poignant and humorous, you won't want to miss Lolly Winston's debut novel, Good Grief.
For other books dealing with the death of a spouse, check out Cheryl Strayed's Torch, Elizabeth Strout's Abide with Me, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, and Calvin Trillin's About Alice.
wednesday february 21
Who can forget Jack Palance doing push-ups on stage after winning Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers? Or Adrien Brody enthusiastically kissing Halle Berry after his Best Actor win for The Pianist? If you don't want to miss all the excitement (plus an opportunity to make fun of the bizarre outfits some of the stars wear), tune into ABC this Sunday at 8 p.m. to see Ellen DeGeneres host the 79th Annual Oscar Awards. In past years, many of the Best Picture winners were adapted from popular works of fiction or non-fiction. Here's a small sampling (the date in parenthesis is the year the movie won the award for Best Picture):
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monday february 12
Shahtani Tropical Breeze. Thistleglen Margot. Freestyle Ocean Breeze. Sound like nice places to visit, right? If you were in New York City last year at this time, you would have been able to visit all of them at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The 2007 show starts today and concludes tomorrow (live coverage both days from 8-11 pm on the USA Network). In all, 165 breeds in seven groups (working, terrier, toy, non-sporting, sporting, hound, and herding) compete against each other to be crowned Best in Show. Last year's winner was Rufus, the colored bull terrier (otherwise known as Rocky Top's Sundance Kid--I swear I'm not making these names up). Tune in to see the popular (beagles) compete against the unknown (Spinone Italianos) and the just plain weird-looking (pulis). While you're in the mood, you might want to peruse these dog-themed mysteries as well:
- A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow--Alaskan PI Kate Shugak and her faithful half-wolf, half-Siberian husky, Mutt, try to gather evidence against a man who has killed three of his wives.
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thursday february 01
The Mystery Writers of America recently announced their 2007 Edgar Award nominees. There are twelve categories, including Best Novel and Best Fact Crime. This year, Stephen King will receive the Grand Master Award (past recipients include Mary Higgins Clark and P.D. James). I was happy to see many of my favorite mysteries from the past year receiving nominations, including Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, a novel that I recently blogged about, which received a nomination for Best First Novel By An American Author. Some of my other favorite nominees:
- A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read--Syracuse journalist Maddie Dare delves into a 20-year-old unsolved double murder in which her cousin is the prime suspect.
- The King of Lies by John Hart--In rural North Carolina, criminal defense attorney Work Pickens struggles first with his father's disappearance and then, a year later, with the discovery of his murdered body.
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thursday january 25
Last month, I blogged about Elisabeth Robinson's The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, a novel about a woman overwhelmed by her sister's recent cancer diagnosis. This got me thinking about other novels dealing with the relationship between sisters. There are some really good ones out there. Here are a few:
- In Her Shoes--Jennifer Weiner--Philadelphia lawyer Rose Feller and her younger sister Maggie try to repair their fractured relationship with the aid of their long-lost maternal grandmother, Ella.
- Rise and Shine--Anna Quindlen--After an on-air gaffe threatens her career, Manhattan talk show host Meghan Fitzmaurice turns to her younger sister, Bridget, for guidance.
- The Girls--Lori Lansens--Deserted by their mother shortly after birth, Canadian conjoined twins Rose and Ruby Darlen struggle to adapt to their unusual situation.
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friday january 19
Stephen King called it a "relentlessly creepy family saga" and an "admirably nasty piece of work." He was referring to Sharp Objects, the debut novel for Entertainment Weekly's chief TV critic, Gillian Flynn. In a candid essay about her work, Flynn admits to being fascinated by aggression in women and wanting to write a "dark, dark book...about the violence of women."
She has succeeded. Her protagonist, Camille Preaker, is a hard-drinking journalist who works at a second-rate Chicago paper. She is also a reformed cutter; at age 13, she began carving words into her skin: "queasy", "vanish", "weary". Camille has a very distant relationship with her mother and little liking for her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri. When two preteen girls are murdered in Wind Gap, her editor sends her back home to write a piece on the killings. In the course of Camille's investigation, she learns something that didn't make it into the papers: both girls had their teeth removed.
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thursday january 11
When I had my first child almost two years ago, a good friend threw me a shower and made a beautiful quilt for our nursery. Another friend wove a baby blanket. This past Halloween, my mother sewed a dog costume for my daughter to wear (complete with brown spots and floppy ears and tail, very cute!) Even if you're severely deficient in this area (like me!), you still might enjoy reading some arts-and-crafts-themed mysteries. Here are some of my favorites:
- In Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton, full-time CPA and part-time knitter Kelly Flynn investigates the burglary death of her favorite aunt in Colorado.
- Earlene Fowler's Fool's Puzzle is set in San Celina, California, where young widow Benni Harper has recently moved to take a job as curator of their folk-art museum. While trying to put together a quilt show, she discovers the body of a local potter in the museum's studio.
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wednesday december 27
Elisabeth Robinson, a Hollywood producer and screenwriter whose credits include the movies Last Orders and Braveheart, published this semi-autobiographical work, her debut, in 2004. Robinson's younger sister died from leukemia in 1998. At the outset of The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, her protagonist, Olivia Hunt, a struggling Hollywood producer, is contemplating suicide. She is interrupted by a call from her parents in Ohio: her newly married younger sister, Maddie, has been diagnosed with leukemia.
The novel is told through Olivia's letters: to her ex-boyfriend, Michael, whom she still loves; to the doctors at the hospital where her sister is being treated; to the head honchos at the studio where her current project, a film of Don Quixote, is having a hard time getting off the ground.
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wednesday december 20
Twinkling lights. Horse-drawn carriage rides. Kissing under the mistletoe. And eggnog--lots and lots of eggnog. In the mood for a little romance yet? No? Then maybe the following titles will help.
- Santa Baby by Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster and Carly Phillips--A sexy trio of holiday-themed novellas from some of romance's hottest authors.
- The Eggnog Chronicles by Carly Alexander--Two sisters, Jane and Ricki, and Jane's best friend Emma look for romance during the holidays in New York City.
- Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber--Seattle resident Katherine O'Connor finds romance and more with child psychologist Dr. Wynn Jeffries.
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thursday december 14
Although the mercury may not show it (60 degrees in December?), it's almost winter. If you enjoy hibernating indoors with a good book and you're looking for a fun, stimulating new activity, how about joining or forming a book discussion group? Rachel W. Jacobsohn's The Reading Group Handbook, Ellen Slezak's The Book Group Book, and Judy Gelman's The Book Club Cookbook will get you going with great tips on organizing meetings, selecting titles, participating in discussions, even recipes that pair up with your favorite books. If I haven't piqued your interest enough, one of the following titles is sure to!
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tuesday december 05
Buying presents. Trimming the tree. Baking cookies. Visiting relatives. The holiday season can be exhausting and stressful--so make yourself some hot cocoa and park yourself in front of the fire with some of these holiday-themed mysteries (just try not to laugh at the titles).
- Sugar Cookie Murder--Joanne Fluke--Minnesota bakery owner Hannah Swensen investigates the murder of a former Las Vegas dancer.
- Santa Cruise--Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark--Setting sail from Miami on an after-Christmas cruise, private detective Regan Reilly teams up with amateur sleuths Alvirah and Willy Meehan to track down a pair of escaped convicts.
- Jingle Bell Bark--Laurien Berenson--The suspicious death of her son's bus driver brings out the inner snoop in Greenwich, Connecticut dog trainer Melanie Travis.
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tuesday november 21
Not that anybody could have missed it, but TomKat got married over the weekend. One of the guests at the wedding was Brooke Shields, with whom Tom had a very public spat last year. Tom, as you might recall, criticized Brooke's use of antidepressants to help treat her severe postpartum depression. Brooke responded with an op-ed piece in the New York Times that denounced Cruise's "ridiculous rant" and suggested that perhaps Mr. Cruise should keep silent on the issue, since he had "never suffered from postpartum depression." As indicated by her presence at his wedding, the two have since made up.
Cruise and Shields's war of words began shortly after the release of Brooke's memoir Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. After enduring two years of unsuccessful IVF attempts and a miscarriage, Brooke gave birth to daughter Rowan in 2003.
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tuesday november 07
Looking forward to the holiday movie season? Can't decide which movies to see? Then check out Yahoo's Holiday Movie Guide. If you still can't make up your mind, pick up copies of some of the following books. The movies based on them are all set to hit theaters soon. Scheduled release dates are in parentheses.
- A Good Year by Peter Mayle--Russell Crowe inherits a French vineyard and falls in love with a beautiful local woman (11/10)
- Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser--A fast food company executive played by Greg Kinnear investigates when tainted meat turns up in his company's restaurants (11/17)
- Casino Royale by Ian Fleming--Daniel Craig plays the first blonde James Bond (11/17)
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friday november 03
October 29th-November 4th is National Infertility Awareness Week. This Saturday, the Ohio chapter of Resolve: The National Infertility Association will hold their annual conference in Loveland. Today's front page of the Enquirer features an article entitled "Fertility Programs Lessen Financial Risk", discussing the steps local programs (the Institute for Reproductive Health, the Center for Reproductive Health, and the Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health and Fertility) are taking to reduce the financial burden on couples seeking IVF or other high-cost fertility treatments.
The library has many books dealing with infertility. Here are some of the more recent titles:
friday october 27
If you haven't yet read Elizabeth Kostova's blockbuster debut The Historian, you might want to pick up a copy. Kostova, who graduated from Yale, took 10 years to research and write her vampire tale. Apparently her persistence paid off--Little, Brown and Co. purchased the book for $2 million, and Sony shelled out another $1.5 million for the movie rights. It also won the 2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Award and the 2005 Quill Award for Debut Author of the Year. It has been published in 37 different languages, had an initial print run of 300,000, and hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
The book opens in 1972 Amsterdam, where a 16-year-old American girl discovers an ancient book in her father's library. The book is blank except for a creepy drawing inscribed with the word "Drakulya", but it is the letters hidden inside it that intrigue her. Letters which begin with the ominous salutation "My dear and unfortunate successor..."
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tuesday october 17
After reading George D. Shuman's 18 Seconds, I was reminded of this famous quote from M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense. 18 Seconds is the story of Sherry Moore, a blind psychic blessed (and cursed) with the ability to see the last 18 seconds of a person's life. When Sherry touches a dead person's body, she relives their last seconds before dying. This makes her an invaluable asset to the detectives of Wildwood, New Jersey, who are hunting a serial killer preying on young women. The killings are eerily similar to a series of unsolved homicides from the 1970's. When the killer learns about Sherry's "unusual ability", a cunning game of cat-and-mouse begins.
Intrigued? Read on for a list of more thrillers featuring people with "unusual abilities."
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tuesday october 10
The leaves are turning. There's a nip in the air. Pumpkins, scarecrows, and witches are popping up on front porches everywhere. Children are scaring themselves silly at haunted houses. Personally, I prefer to get my chills and thrills the old-fashioned way: through the pages of a good book. Have you ever picked up a book because the cover gave you that creepy-crawly, shiver-down-your-back sensation? If making the hair stand on the back of your neck is a must for you, check out some of the following covers. Read the books. Just make sure to keep your flashlight handy.
One of my all-time favorites for a scary book cover (and title) is Stephen Dobyns's The Church of Dead Girls. The discovery of the bodies of three young girls paralyzes a small upstate New York town. Their deaths are eventually linked to an unsolved murder from years before. The connection? All of their left hands had been severed.
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tuesday october 03
This quote probably brings back not-so-fond memories of high school English class for many of us. Edgar Allan Poe, the author of the poem "The Raven", died 157 years ago this week. Poe, who also wrote such famous short stories as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher", was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston and died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore. The circumstances surrounding his death are murky. Although it was believed for years that Poe's death was due to extreme alcohol abuse, the doctor who attended him found no evidence to support this claim. Cholera, rabies, and syphilis have all been put forth as possible causes of death, but it is likely that the cause will never be known.
Every year on Poe's birthday, a man dressed in a cape appears at his gravesite and leaves three roses and a partially empty bottle of cognac. Inspired by this real-life event, mystery novelist Laura Lippman wrote In a Strange City, in which PI Tess Monaghan investigates a shooting death that occurs at Poe's tomb.
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wednesday september 20
My dog has been known to exhibit some strange behaviors. When my husband and I first brought him home from the rescue, he developed a strange habit of jumping into our bathtub. He has an affinity for bathrooms in general, as evidenced by his insistence on accompanying me whenever I go into one. He also likes to run maniacally in circles around our backyard until he exhausts himself (or blows out his knee, which he did a few years ago, but that's another story). One thing I'm pretty sure he's never done: talked to me.
In Merrill Markoe's Walking in Circles Before Lying Down, Dawn Tarnauer is convinced her dog, a pit bull mix she calls Chuck, is talking to her. Even stranger, he seems to be making a lot of sense.
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thursday september 07
Not too long ago, I was writing a brief review of Carol Higgins Clark's latest Regan Reilly mystery, Hitched. Carol, of course, is the daughter of Mary Higgins Clark, a perennial New York Times bestselling author. Although the two for the most part write separately, they have also collaborated on several novels (the most recent being The Christmas Thief). Does talent run in families? I'll let you be the judge of that. In the meantime, check out my brief list of related authors and their most recent works:
Husband and wife: Bill Pronzini's Mourners and Marcia Muller's Vanishing Point
Husband and wife: Pat Conroy's Beach Music and Cassandra King's The Same Sweet Girls
Husband and wife: Jonathan Kellerman's Gone and Faye Kellerman's Straight into Darkness
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thursday august 24
Rarely have I been so moved by a novel as I was by Ayelet Waldman's Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. Waldman, the author of the Mommy-Track mystery series (the latest of which, Bye-Bye, Black Sheep, was released earlier this month), created a firestorm last year with her essay "Truly, Madly, Guiltily" which appeared in the New York Times. The essay was a frank discussion of marriage and parenting, in which Waldman wrote that, while she loved her children desperately, she loved her husband even more.
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, in which a first-time mother mourns the death of her infant daughter, shines with Waldman's insights on marriage and motherhood.
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friday august 18
Now that the school year is upon us, I recently began thinking about some of the novels I read in high school and college. This also got me thinking about a website I stumbled across a few years ago, called First Lines. It's a compilation of some of the most famous opening sentences in literature. Check out the site--it's a lot of fun. Are some of your favorites on the list? Here are a few of mine:
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again--Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day--Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
This is the saddest story I have ever heard--Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier
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friday august 11
Is Dora the Explorer your new best friend? Does the mere mention of Candyland make you break out in hives? Does your child a. throw food on the floor b. smear food in their hair c. surreptitiously stuff food down their pants for you to "discover" later d. feed food to the dog or e. all of the above? Do you attempt to placate your child with a wooden spoon and pot while you are making dinner, only to have said kitchen utensils used as weapons of mass destruction against the family pet? (In my defense, I did instruct my daughter to use them to stir a "pretend" pot of spaghetti sauce while I cooked, but evidently the spoon was put to better use whacking our labrador retriever repeatedly over the head. Apparently 16-month-olds don't listen very well. Go figure.) If any or all of the above sound vaguely familiar to you, read on.
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wednesday august 02
If you're looking for a good mystery to curl up with in your (hopefully) air-conditioned home, check out P.J. Tracy's 2003 debut, Monkeewrench. In this quirky yet sinister thriller, a team of Minneapolis cops tracks an elusive serial killer. The trail leads to a software company called Monkeewrench that produces a game called Serial Killer Detective. Both the police and the company's employees are shocked to discover that the killer is actually mimicking the murders found in the game.
When I found out that P.J. Tracy was actually a pseudonym for a mother-daughter writing team, it made me think about how many other writing tandems are out there. If you're interested in perusing some more, check out these titles by some other "dynamic duos".
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friday july 28
Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning role in Capote sparked renewed interest in Capote's In Cold Blood. With help from research assistant and friend Harper Lee, Capote composed this true crime classic which made the Modern Library's list of 100 Best Nonfiction Works published after 1900. In it, he details the 1959 murders of the Clutter family by ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith.
All the attention brought to Capote's work has made me think about other classic murder cases, and the books written about them. The library has many, including:
thursday july 20
Your average chick lit novel usually revolves around a romantically challenged heroine who is either going through a career crisis or has recently lost her job, is obsessed with Prada and Kate Spade handbags, and often has a loyal and gorgeous neighbor/best friend/co-worker lurking somewhere in the background that you just know they're going to hook up with. Sometimes there's a cute pet or two. And a clever title is a must. Which leads me to my list of my all-time favorite titles. Enjoy!
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wednesday july 12
Today marks the beginning of the Autism Society of America's 37th annual national conference. In the past several years there has been an explosion in books written about autism and other autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome. Parents and other family members struggling with the many questions surrounding this often mystifying disorder may want to consult Does My Child Have Autism? by Wendy L. Stone, The Autism Book by S. Jhoanna Robledo and Dawn Ham-Kucharski, and The Oasis Guide to Asperger Syndrome by Patricia Romanowski Bashe and Barbara L. Kirby.
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friday june 30
Millions of people will visit our country's national parks this summer, from the well-traveled Great Smoky Mountains to the more remote Big Bend National Park. If you want to visit a national park, but can't decide which one, then let Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon be your guide. Barr first introduced her tenacious National Park Ranger sleuth in Track of the Cat, in which Anna investigated a murder disguised as a mountain lion attack.
Once you read the first one, you'll want to read them all, but here are a few of my favorites and the parks they take place in:
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thursday june 15
If you're not a fan of reruns or reality shows, watching television in the summer can be a real drag. Which is why I always eagerly look forward to the American Film Institute's annual movie list. This year's theme, 100 Years...100 Cheers, counted down the top 100 most inspiring films of all time, as selected by a jury of 1,500 film critics and historians. Commentary by such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, James Earl Jones, Sally Field and Ben Kingsley livened the three-hour CBS broadcast last night. If you didn't see it, you might want to check out the Institute's website for the complete list.
As the list was revealed, I realized how many of the films were based on classic works of fiction and non-fiction, some more contemporary, some long-forgotten. Here are a few you might want to check out: The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace, A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar, Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, 2001 by Arthur Clarke, All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella (the movie's title was changed to Field of Dreams).
wednesday june 14
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 2006 U.S. Open Golf Championship, held this year from June 15th-18th at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Many people will be watching Tiger Woods's return to the tour after his father's death from cancer on May 3rd. His nine-week layoff is the longest of his career. Phil Mickelson won the last major, the Masters, in April, and many expect the two to duel it out on Father's Day.
Fans of both Tiger and Phil will probably enjoy John Daly's recent autobiography--My Life In and Out of the Rough: The Truth Behind All That Bull**** You Think You Know About Me. If you like reading about the game as much as playing it, you might want to try Peter Jacobsen's Embedded Balls: Adventures On and Off the Tour with Golf's Premier Storyteller, or Howard Sounes's The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf. The game of golf is also well-represented by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly's two hilarious novels about Ponky, a semi-fictional golf course in Massachusetts-- Missing Links and its sequel Shanks for Nothing.
Interesting footnote: The first U.S. Open was played in October 1895 and the winner took home $150. Last year's winner, New Zealand's Michael Campbell, won a paltry $1,170,000.
friday june 09
If you're getting married this month, or just know someone who is, you're not alone. June is still the most popular month for weddings, although the autumn months are gaining in popularity. Need advice on budgets, dresses, flowers and more? Check out theknot.com, one of the premier bridal sites on the web. The library also has some great resources, including Jo Gartin's Weddings by Jo Gartin, Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette by Peggy Post, and The Complete Wedding Planner by Marjabelle Stewart.
Are you having bizarre dreams about your wedding, in which your entire bridal party dances up the aisle to Rocky Top Tennessee and then has a water pistol fight on the altar? (Unfortunately I did not make this one up--I had this dream four years ago before my own wedding and still can't figure out what it means.) This might mean it's time to put away that mammoth planner that you've been dragging around everywhere and check out these fun reads: Toss the Bride by Jennifer Manske Fenske, Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot, Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? by Melissa Senate, and Always the Bridesmaid by Whitney Lyles.
If murder and mayhem are more on your mind (and what bride-to-be hasn't thought of them?) then try these wedding-themed mysteries: Hitched by Carol Higgins Clark, Rituals of the Season by Margaret Maron, The Flaming Luau of Death by Jerrilyn Farmer, and 'Til Death Do Us Part by Kate White.
friday june 02
Do you remember where you were when the tornado of April 9, 1999 struck southwestern Ohio, causing four deaths and over $25 million in damage? Were you alive during the April 1974 super outbreak of tornadoes, when tornadoes touched down in 13 states, killing 330 people, including 41 in Ohio? If you're fascinated with the science behind tornado formation, or just want some tornado safety tips, visit Tornado FAQ, an informative website designed by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
If you secretly yearn to be a stormchaser, you might want to pick up Mark Svenvold's Big Weather: Chasing Tornadoes in the Heart of America (2005). Or check out Tornado Intercept (2006), a National Geographic DVD that showcases the violent ferocity of these powerful storms. Is fiction more your thing? Then try my personal favorite, Alice Blanchard's The Breathtaker (2003). Here, a smalltown police chief teams up with a scientist to find a serial killer who only strikes during, you guessed it, tornadoes.
By the way, Ohio's peak tornado season runs from April through July, with June being the most active month--so we're not out of the woods yet!
Don't have tickets to Jimmy Buffett's sold-out show this Thursday at Riverbend? Obsessed with all things Parrothead? Look no further! Slide on your flip-flops, munch on a cheeseburger, and sip a margarita while listening to Jimmy's latest live CD. When he's not singing "Come Monday" or "Fins" to crazed fans everywhere, Jimmy keeps himself busy writing not only songs but fiction as well. In his latest novel, A Salty Piece of Land (2004), Wyoming cowboy Tully Mars escapes a vengeful boss to work in a fishing camp on the Yucatan, where he becomes embroiled in a scheme to save an historic lighthouse.
If Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads are your thing, check out these other novels set in the tropics:
