Joss Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, the similarly multi-platinum Mind Body & Soul (2004), topped the UK Albums Chart and spawned the top ten hit “You Had Me“, Stone’s most successful single on the UK Singles Chart to that point. Both the album and single received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, while Stone herself was nominated for Best New Artist, and in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2004, Stone was ranked fifth as a predicted breakthrough act of 2004. She became the youngest British female singer to top the UK Albums Chart. Stone’s third album, Introducing Joss Stone, released in March 2007, achieved gold record status by the RIAA and yielded the second-ever highest debut for a British female solo artist on the Billboard 200, and became Stone’s first top five album in the US.

The Soul Sessions presents “Blue-Eyed Soul” with Joss Stone’s heart-felt delivery. My favorite song on The Soul Sessions is Stone’s version of The Dells’s hit, “For the Love of You.” If you’re in the mood for some soulful songs, I recommend The Soul Sessions. Do you like soul music? GRADE: B+

Tracklist:

Back in the 1960s, Ballantine Books published high-end SF and fantasy (the low end was occupied by Tower Books, Leisure Books, and Graphic Books). The Fiend in You (1962) edited by Charles Beaumont was one of the books in Ballantine’s “Chamber of Horrors” series. I didn’t find much horror in The Fiend in You, but there’s plenty of suspense.

My favorite story in The Fiend in You is Stanley Ellin’s classic chess tale, “Fool’s Mate.” When George’s employer gives him a chess set, George’s shrewish wife, Louise, disdains the game. That stalemate gets resolved in typical Ellin fashion. I also love Fritz Leiber’s “The Thirteenth Step” with its haunting big black car with its faceless drivers.

The Fiend in You is a solid suspense collection well worth reading. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction / Charles Beaumont — vi
Finger prints / Richard Matheson — 7
Fool’s mate / Stanley Ellin — 14
Big, wide, wonderful world / Charles E. Fritch — 31
The night of the gran baile mascara / Whit Burnett — 35
A punishment to fit the crimes / Richard M. Goredon — 46
The hornet / George Clayton Johnson — 54
Perchance to dream / Charles Beaumont — 59
The thirteenth step / Fritz Leiber — 68
The conspiracy / Robert Lowry — 75
Room with a view / Esther Carlson — 84
The candidate / Henry Slesar — 90
One of those days / William F. Nolan — 98
Lucy comes to stay / Robert Bloch — 103
The women / Ray Bradbury — 110
Surprise! / Ronald Bradford — 121
Mute / Richard Matheson — 127

Introduction to the Ballantine “Chamber of Horrors” Series — 156

Diane and I decided it was time to attend an actual, live performance so we chose this local theater production of Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter at the MiscialFare Theater starring the talented Debbie Pappas who carries the one-woman show with grace and style. And, there was only a small audience of 60 people, all vaccinated.

As you might suspect, a marriage to a gay man in the early 20th Century was fraught with problems. Pappas explains why her marriage to Cole Porter–with its ups and downs–thrilled her. When she sings those classic Cole Porter songs, she captures the emotions of that stage in her story. If Love, Linda shows up in your neighborhood, I highly recommend you see it! Are you a Cole Porter fan? GRADE: A

SET LIST:

Matthew Hughes’s new authorized sequel-cum-companion novel to Jack Vance’s classic The Demon Princes series, Barbarians of the Beyond, will be available from Spatterlight Press and online retailers on August 1, 2021. The ebook version will be available from AMAZON soon!

Barbarians of the Beyond is NOT the further adventures of Kirth Gerson (who is only referred to obliquely), but a companion novel set during the time frame of the first two novels in The Demon Princes series: The Star King  and The Killing Machine (both published in 1964).

Hughes’s strategy of returning to the scene of the crime that launched Kirth Gerson on a five book vengeance odyssey is bold and innovative. And Hughes’s choice of heroine, Morwen Sabine, whose parents were taken during the Mount Pleasant raid ratchets up the suspense. What is Morwen’s plan? Why is she putting herself in grave danger? And what secret is Morwen hiding?

Five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided the peaceful community of Mount Pleasant to loot and to carry off its five thousand inhabitants into bondage in the lawless Beyond. Twenty-five years later, Morwen Sabine, daughter of two of the Mount Pleasant citizens turned into slaves, manages to escape her cruel master in the Beyond. Questions remain about Morwen’s risky decision to go to Mount Pleasant instead of safer parts of The Oikumene,

Morwen finds Mount Pleasant has changed in the twenty-five years since the raid. Morwen discovers she has to deal with mystic cultists, murderous drug-smugglers, and undercover “weasels” of the Interplanetary Police Coordinating Company in order to survive.

Still more threatening to Morwen are the deadly henchmen of the vicious pirate lord who owns her parents and wants Morwen returned – so he can torture and kill her slowly. If you’re a fan of Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series, you’ll enjoy Matthew Hughes’s brilliant sequel, Barbarians of the Beyond. Let’s hope this is just the first of a new series! GRADE: A

When we were in Boston visiting Patrick and Katie last week, we visited Katie’s condo. While she was baking a strawberry/apple pie and a lemon/coconut cake (lactose-free), Diane and I watched Apple TV’s Ted Lasso. Katie recommended it and that was enough for us.

Ted Lasso is a 10-episode series featuring Jason Sudeikis as an American college football coach who knows almost zilch about soccer who is hired to coach a struggling professional European soccer team. I knew nothing about Ted Lasso before I started watching this “fish-out-of-water” comedy, but within a few minutes I knew I was watching something Special!

Ted Lasso enjoys brilliant casting. Hannah Waddingham plays the new owner of the AFC Richmond soccer team. Hannah has just divorced Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head), her cheating ex-husband and the former owner of AFC Richmond. Jeremy Swift plays Leslie Higgins, the sycophantic Director of Football Operations. Brendan Hunt plays Coach Beard, Lasso’s taciturn long-time assistant and friend.

Nick Mohammed is terrific as Nathan Shelley, the team’s former kit man-turned assistant coach who lacks confidence but knows a lot about soccer. My favorite character–other than Ted Lasso–is Juno Temple‘s  portrayal of Keeley Jones, a model who works for AFC Richmond. She’s smart and sassy! 

Jason Sudeikis expands on the character he developed in a series of promos for NBC Sports‘ coverage of the Premier League. Sudeikis’s Ted Lasso might not know much about soccer, but he does know a lot about coaching and leadership.

Last week, Ted Lasso scored 20 Emmy nominations—the most ever for a rookie comedy series. The Second Season of Ted Lasso started on Friday, July 23, 2021. You’re going to love Ted Lasso! GRADE: A

Black Widow is the first in-theater movie we’ve seen since the Pandemic started. Diane, Katie, and I went to a Regal Theater in Boston and socially distanced along with about a dozen other members of the audience (the theater had 200 seats).

I love Scarlett Johansson so I wanted to see her origin story as Avenger Natasha Romanoff. Johansson’s character has no superpowers, but she is extremely smart and athletic.

Part of the problem with Black Widow is that it’s set in the Marvel Universe Timeline just after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, [SPOILER ALERT!] we know Natasha Romanoff dies in Avengers: Endgame [END OF SPOILER].

Directed by Cate Shortland, the movie’s plot moves around the globe. Jackie Schaeffer, Ned Benson, and Eric Pearson’s script tries to connect all the dots in Natasha Romanoff’s life, but there’s a lot to cover. From Ohio, to the secret RED ROOM, to Norway, to Budapest, to a prison in Siberia, Black Widow feels more like a Bourne movie than a MARVEL movie.

I liked Yelena (Florence Pugh), Natasha’s long-lost sister. I liked Rachel Weisz as Natasha’s “Mother” and David Harbour as her “Father.” General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) is an effective villain.

But, despite a solid cast and plenty of action, I found Black Widow disappointing. A cameo of Iron Man or Doctor Strange would have been great! Instead, we get an unbelievable (and I use that adjective deliberately) last 15 minutes where the action defies physics. Even the CGI could not save that mess.

So I’m back to seeing movies in theaters–I’m still wearing a mask. I still hope the upcoming MARVEL movies are better. And, I hope Scarlett Johansson’s character somehow gets reincarnated. GRADE: B-

Little did I know when Patti Abbott invited me to join her Friday’s Forgotten Books group back in 2009 that 650 posts later, I’d still be writing about Forgotten Books and forgotten authors (you can read my first FFB post here).

I decided to commemorate this milestone by choosing Christopher Fowler’s aptly titled book: The Book of Forgotten Authors (2017). I picked Fowler’s book because I rediscovered it on my shelves when I was looking for volumes in Fowler’s Bryant & May Peculiar Crimes Unit series. And, I was looking for the Bryant & May books because Rick Robinson’s wonderful reviews (you can read them here, here, and here) motivated me to read a series I’ve been collecting–but not reading–for many years (the story of my Life…).

I’m a sucker for books like The Book of Forgotten Authors. It’s a browsers delight! And, it has generated a whole list of books that I’ll be searching for.

I want to thank all of you who have followed my FFB reviews for 12 years. I hope to continue to contribute FFB reviews for many more years. How many of these authors are you familiar with? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Why are good authors forgotten? — 1
1. Margery Allingham — 5
2. Virginia Andrews — 8
3. Charlotte Armstrong — 11
4. Frank Baker — 15
5. R.M. Ballantyne — 18
6. Alexander Baron — 21
7. Peter Barnes — 24
8. Lesley Blanch — 27
9. Kyril Bonfiglioli — 30
The forgotten Disney connection — 33
10. Earnest Bornemann — 38
11. Pierre Boulle — 41
12. Mary Elizabeth Braddon — 44
13. Caryl Brahms — 47
14. Pamela Branch — 49
15. Brigid Brophy — 52
16. Thomas Burke — 55
17. Dino Buzzati — 57
18. Patricia Carlon — 60
19. Barbara Comyns Carr — 62
The Forgotten (pre-Tarantino) pulp fiction — 64
20. John Dickson Carr — 68
21. Leslie Charteris — 71
22. John Christopher — 74
23. John Collier — 77
24. Norman Collins — 80
25. Richard Condon — 84
26. Edmund Crispin — 87
27. E.M. Delafield — 90
28. Patrick Dennis — 93
29. Raymond Durgnat — 95
The forgotten rivals of Holmes, Bond and Miss Marple — 98
30. Rosalind Erskine — 102
21. Dr. Christopher Evans — 110
32. Jack Finney — 113
33. Ronald Firbank — 116
34. Peter Fleming — 120
35. Lucille Fletcher — 122
36. R. Austin Freeman — 124
37. Michael Green — 127
38. Peter Van Greenaway — 130
The forgotten books of Charles Dickens — 133
39. Robert Van Gulik — 137
40. Thomas Guthrie — 140
41. Charles Hamilton — 143
42. James Hanley — 145
43. Sven Hassel — 148
44. A.P. Herbert — 151
45. Georgette Heyer — 154
46. Eleanor Hibbert — 157
47. Harry Hodge — 160
48. Sheila Hodgetts — 161
The forgotten queens of suspense — 166
49. Polly Hope — 175
50. Richard Hughes — 180
51. Graham Joyce — 182
52. Robert Klane — 185
53. Thomas Nigel Kneale — 188
54. Ronald Knox — 191
55. Gavin Lambert — 194
56. George Langelaan — 197
The forgotten nonsense writers — 200
57. Noel Langley — 206
58. Marghanita Laski — 209
59. Michael McDowell — 212
60. John McGlashan — 215
61. Juliane Maclaren-Ross — 218
62. Richard Marsh — 220
63. Arthur Mee — 222
64. Gustav Meyer — 226
65. Margaret Millar — 229
The forgotten Booker authors — 232
66. Clifford Mills — 236
67. Gladys Mitchell — 239
68. Brian Moore — 242
70. Peter Nichols — 244
71. Bill Naughton — 247
72. Emma Orczy — 250
73. Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett — 254
74. Thomas Love Peacock — 256
Forgotten for writing too little and too much — 259
75. Joyce Porter — 266
76. David Pownall — 268
77. Philippa Pullar — 271
78. Barbara Pym — 274
79. Richard Quittenton — 276
80. T. Lobsang Rampa — 278
81. Simon Raven — 281
82. Maurice Richardson — 284
The rediscovered forgotten authors — 287
83. Arnold Ridley — 294
84. Tom Robbins — 296
85. Cynthia Propper Seton — 299
86. Idries Shah — 301
87. Richard Shaver — 304
88. Matthew Phipps Shiel — 307
89. Peter Tinniswood — 309
Lost in translation: the forgotten world authors — 312
90. Thomas Tryon — 319
91. Arthur Upfield — 321
92. Edgar Wallace — 324
93. James Redding Ware — 327
94. Keith Waterhouse — 327
95. Winifred Watson — 330
The justly forgotten authors — 337
96. Dennis Wheatley — 343
97. T.H. White — 346
98. Kathleen Winsor — 349
99. Cornell Woolrich — 352
The last word — 355

Acknowledgements — 359

Index — 361

Where Were All The BAME Writers? — 373

100. William Melvin Kelley — 377

A few weeks ago, I reviewed THE FOLK YEARS: SIMPLE SONG OF FREEDOM (you can check it out here). I found another volume in the series, THE FOLK YEARS: BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND. I think this 2-CD set is more “folky” than THE FOLK YEARS: SIMPLE SONG OF FREEDOM, but you be the judge. Pete Seeger is included in this set. So is Johnny Cash.

If I had to pick my favorite song from this compilation, I’d have to go with Bobby Darin’s “If I Were a Carpenter.” I was also a big fan of Chad & Jeremy back then. More “commercial” songs (aka, hits) are included in this set, too. Do you remember these songs? Do you see any favorites here? GRADE: B

Tracklist:

I’ve been a fan of Ed Hoch’s clever mystery stories for decades. Hoch had a story in every issues of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine from 1973 until his death in 2008. Along the way, Hoch showed how gifted he was by creating a number of mystery series. There’s Nick Velvet who only steals items that have no monetary value. There is Jeffery Rand’s code and cipher puzzles. I love Ben Snow and his historical Western mysteries. Captain Leopold’s police procedural mysteries bring me delight. And, of course, there is Dr. Sam Hawthorne who specializes in solving locked room cases.

But I’ve always loved the off-beat Simon Ark mysteries. Ark implies he’s a couple of thousand years old. When a man claims the Devil is trying to kill him, only Simon Ark can figure out what is really going on. When astronauts start to die under bizarre circumstances, it’s Simon Ark who solves the riddles. Crippen & Landru’s Funeral in the Fog collects sixteen Simon Ark stories. If you’re looking for some unusual and ingenious mysteries, this is the book for you! Are you an Ed Hoch fan? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Gigi Pandian — 9

Day of the Wizard — 11

Funeral in the Fog — 37

The Avenger from Outer Space — 52

The Weaon Out of the Past — 70

The Sorceress of the Sea — 87

The House of a Hundred Birds — 105

Prisoner of Zerfall — 124

The S. S. S. — 141

The Way Up to Hades — 156

The Virgins of Valentine — 174

The Stalker of Souls –190

The Society of the Scar — 208

No Blood for a Vampire — 224

The Graveyard Ghoul — 240

Master of Miracles — 255

The Gravesend Trumpet — 275

Sources — 291

Diane and I finally sat down and watched In the Heights on HBO Max. We toyed with the idea of seeing In the Heights in one of our local AMC or Regal Theaters, but opted to stay home instead.

The play version of In the Heights won the Tony for Best Musical and the touring company arrived at Shea’s Theater in Buffalo in 2010. The movie version makes some changes but at its essence, the story is about making it in America. Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame wrote this joyous ode to Washington Heights and launched his career (Miranda has a few cameos as the Piragua Guy in this movie version of In the Heights).

Movie director Jon M. Chu, with a screenplay by Quiara Alegria Hudes, celebrates the Latino immigrant experience mostly in song and dance sequences. If you’re looking for a movie as a spectacle, In the Heights delivers Big Time. GRADE: B+