My health care provider, Independent Health, sent me this Birthday care and enclosed a coupon for 6 free cupcakes! Odd way to promote “health.”

The “Dark Phoenix” is an incredibly powerful mutant called Jean Grey (played by Sophie Turner). Dark Phoenix traces the journey of Jean Grey from an 8-year-old-girl with strong but unreliable telepathic and telekinetic abilities. After a tragedy, Jean Grey decides to attend a school for mutant children run by Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). Then the movie fast-forwards 17 years to a daring rescue of the Space Shuttle when Jean Grey is needed to hold the disintegrating shuttle together. During the rescue, Jean Grey absorbs a cloud of strange cosmic energy that increases her powers geometrically. Of course, what would an X-Men movie be without some Bad Guys. In this case, it’s a band of eerie aliens led by Jessica Chastain who appears indestructible and plans to conquer the Earth. Given that Dark Phoenix is the last of the 21th Century Fox series (Disney now owns the rights to the X-Men franchise), Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender) had to show up to amp up the battle scenes.

My favorite X-Men movie character, the roguish Quicksilver (played brilliantly by Evan Peters), only appears in a couple cameos. Big mistake. Too much of Dark Phoenix is dark and turgid. The wit, humor, and speed of Quicksliver could have lighted the mood and added needed excitement. GRADE: B-

Just by chance, I stumbled across this 1976 Arkham House edition of L. Sprague de Camp’s wonderful Literary Swordsman and Socerers at my local public library. I immediately took it out and read it. De Camp’s informational essays on these fantasy writers made me want to drop everything and reread some of the great books by these authors. I’m a big fan of Lord Dunsany, but I haven’t read more than a fraction of his oeuvre. I’ve read most of Lovecraft, but I can always pick up one of his collections and find delight in its pages.

I’ve read all of Robert E. Howard’s CONAN tales, but Howard wrote a lot of other stuff that I haven’t read yet. I have the Night Shade Books editions of Clark Ashton Smith’s short stories, but I haven’t read them all. I’ve read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but little else by this fantasy giant. I have books by Morris, Eddison, and White on my shelves, but I haven’t opened them yet.

De Camp’s essays display a familiarity with the works of all these writers. My only quibble is that Fritz Leiber–who wrote the marvelous Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales–only gets a few pages in “Conan’s Compeers” instead of an entire chapter which he deserves. The same for C. L. Moore who wrote the underrated Jirel of Joiry. Inexpensive reprints of LITERARY SWORDSMEN AND SORCERERS can be found online for reasonable prices. If you love heroic fantasy, you’ll love this book! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
“Introduction: Neomythology”, by Lin Carter xi
Chapter I. “The Swords of Faërie” 9
Chapter II “Jack of All Arts: William Morris” 31
Chapter III. “Two Men in One: Lord Dunsany” 48
Chapter IV. “Eldritch Yankee Gentleman: H. P. Lovecraft” 64
Chapter V. “Superman in a Bowler: E.R. Eddison” 114
Chapter VI. “The Miscast Barbarian: Robert E. Howard” 135
Chapter VII. “Parallel Worlds: Fletcher Pratt” 178
Chapter VIII. “Sierran Shaman: Clark Ashton Smith” 195
Chapter IX. “Merlin in Tweeds: J.R.R. Tolkien” 215
Chapter X. “The Architect of Camelot: T.H. White” 252
Chapter XI. “Conan’s Compeers” 270
Notes 291
Index 303

Just by chance I found this slim copy of Darrell Schweitzer’s Borgo Press paperback, Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard. Published in 1978, Schweitzer discusses each of the Conan stories Robert E. Howard wrote. This 64-page gem delivers information and appreciation about one of greatest sword and sorcery heroes ever. If you’re a fan of Conan and Robert E. Howard, you’ll enjoy this appreciation for Howard’s work and the character he created. Are you a Conan fan? Do you have a favorite story? GRADE: A

Cape May, set in late September 1957, follows Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from Georgia down the rabbit hole of seduction and sex. The happy couple arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon. Effie chose Cape May because she had vacation experiences there during summers as a child.

But Henry and Effie only to find the town deserted–it’s off season. They meet a glamorous set of wealthy people from the cottage next door who will change their lives. Clara, a rich and beautiful socialite, is having an affair with Max, a playboy with plenty of money. Henry finds himself attracted to Alma, Max’s young, aloof half-sister. Clara draws Henry and Effie–who are naive and unexperienced–into a web of drinking and seductive behavior. Yes, there’s a lot of sex in Cape May. And, as you might suspect, things spiral out of control. If you’re in the mood for a book that traces the slippery path from innocence to lust, Cape May delivers. GRADE: B

I was a big fan of John Hughes’s movies about teenagers–Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, etc.–so Booksmart took me back to an era where movies about young people were common. Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart features two High School friends who studied and worked hard for years in order to get into elite colleges. And, they do! Amy gets accepted into Columbia University and Molly gets into Yale University.

Kaitlyn Dever plays Amy–a shy, gay, lonely teen who harbors a secret. Molly (played by Beanie Feldstein) is the Class of 2019 valedictorian. Molly has compulsive grammarian tendencies: she uses a felt-tip pen to correct graffiti on a unisex bathroom wall. Molly’s abrasiveness is both her greatest strength and greatest weakness. Other students dismiss her, while Molly’s intensity produced stellar SAT scores. Both girls speak Mandarin as a private language to communicate while other people surround them.

Booksmart was written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. The movie follows Amy and Molly on their frantic search to find a wild party on the night before Graduation. Much comedy and some sadness result. Well worth seeing! GRADE: B+

It’s been 13 years since Thomas Harris’s last book and the rust shows in Cari Mora. Cari is a Columbian refugee living in stealth mode from ICE with Temporary Protected Status. She works several jobs to survive in Miami. The novel opens in Biscayne Bay at a mansion once owned by the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. After being rented by playboys, filmmakers, and investors, Escobar’s house now becomes the focal point of two groups: one led by Hans-Peter Schneider–who dabbles in selling human organs–and the other a South American group led by ancient Don Ernesto. And who is the caretaker of Pablo Escobar’s mansion? Cari Mora, of course.

Why all the interest in Escobar’s empty house? Because $25 million in gold is hidden there. The search for the gold is tedious. However, there’s a crocodile to liven things up. Hans-Peter becomes obsessed with taking Cari Mora’s organs and selling them to an eccentric billionaire. You can imagine the final confrontation between Cari and Hans-Peter. I predict Cari Mora will be a wonderful thriller movie in a couple of years. Many copies of Cori Mora will show up on beaches all over the world. It’s a quick read. But don’t expect another Silence of the Lambs. GRADE: B-

In addition to our new Bosch dishwasher, Diane and I also bought a new Frigidaire Above the Range microwave and a new Frigidaire range. Our General Electric stove is 26 years old. One burner on the glass top doesn’t work. Diane worries about the oven because the temperature can suddenly jump from 350 degrees to 500 degrees!

Our Sharp Above the Range microwave is 20 years old. It still works, but there’s a crack in the front near the viewing window that I don’t like the looks of. The appliance store offered a deal if we bought both a range and a microwave of the same brand. Since most of the stoves and microwaves they carried ranked closely in Consumer Reports, it was a no-brainer to buy the combo and save a few hundred dollars. Do you like your stove and microwave? Are you thinking of buying new ones?

With the Recession just around the corner, we decided to purchase a Bosch 800 Series Top Control Tall Tub Pocket Handle Dishwasher in White with Stainless Steel Tub and Easy Glide Rack. Our old Whirlpool dishwasher was 20 years old. It was still working, but Diane noticed the glasses were not as clean as she would like.

I did my research with Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports ranked various Bosch dishwashers for their top five picks. We went to our local appliance store and checked out the Bosch dishwashers. Diane liked the 800 series best so that’s what we bought. Our new Bosch dishwasher arrives on Monday. What brand of dishwasher do you have? Are you thinking about a new dishwasher?

I picked up this thick-as-a-brick anthology at a Library Book Sale for pennies. My favorite stories are “The Dragon Masters” and “The Last Castle” by Jack Vance, but there are plenty of first-rate stories between these covers. Harlan Ellison is well-represented. So is Poul Anderson. I remember reading Clifford Simak’s “The Big Front Yard” in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION way back in 1958 and loving it. Probably the most famous story included in The Hugo Winners is Daniel Keyes’s “Flowers for Algernon” which was later expanded into a novel and became a movie.

As an impressionable kid, I loved another story from 1958 (when I was a precocious 9-year-old): Robert Bloch’s “That Hell-Bound Train.” That triggered a search for other “Deal With the Devil” stories. I found dozens in various anthologies, but none were quite as good as Robert Bloch’s classic. I read most of the stories in VOLUME TWO in Real Time as I subscribed to GALAXY, IF, WORLDS OF TOMORROW, AMAZING, and FANTASTIC and would buy the occasional issue of Analog and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction if one of my favorite SF writers was included in an issue on the newsstands.

These stories in The Hugo Winners brought back a lot of fond memories. Do they bring back memories for you? How many of these Hugo Winners have you read? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Hugo Winners, Volume 1 • [The Hugo Winners • 1] • (1962) • anthology by Isaac Asimov
x • Introduction (The Hugo Winners, Volume I) • (1962) • essay by Isaac Asimov
5 • The Darfsteller • (1955) • novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
64 • Allamagoosa • (1955) • short story by Eric Frank Russell
80 • Exploration Team • [Colonial Survey] • (1956) • novelette by Murray Leinster
123 • The Star • (1955) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
132 • Or All the Seas with Oysters • (1958) • short story by Avram Davidson
145 • The Big Front Yard • (1958) • novella by Clifford D. Simak
193 • The Hell-Bound Train • (1958) • short story by Robert Bloch (variant of That Hell-Bound Train)
208 • Flowers for Algernon • (1959) • novelette by Daniel Keyes
236 • The Longest Voyage • (1960) • novelette by Poul Anderson
264 • Postscript (The Hugo Winners) • (1962) • essay by Isaac Asimov
266 • Appendix: The Hugo Awards (The Hugo Winners, Volume I) • (1962) • essay by uncredited
269 • The Hugo Winners, Volume Two • [The Hugo Winners • 2] • (1971) • anthology by Isaac Asimov
273 • Here I Am Again • (1971) • essay by Isaac Asimov
280 • The Dragon Masters • (1962) • novella by Jack Vance
363 • No Truce with Kings • (1963) • novella by Poul Anderson
421 • Soldier, Ask Not • [Childe Cycle] • (1964) • novella by Gordon R. Dickson
477 • “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • short story by Harlan Ellison
492 • The Last Castle • (1966) • novella by Jack Vance
546 • Neutron Star • [Known Space] • (1966) • novelette by Larry Niven
567 • Weyr Search • [Dragonriders of Pern short fiction] • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey
618 • Riders of the Purple Wage • (1967) • novella by Philip José Farmer
681 • Gonna Roll the Bones • (1967) • novelette by Fritz Leiber
702 • I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream • (1967) • short story by Harlan Ellison
721 • Nightwings • [Nightwings] • (1968) • novella by Robert Silverberg
769 • The Sharing of Flesh • [Technic History] • (1968) • novelette by Poul Anderson
800 • The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World • (1968) • novelette by Harlan Ellison (variant of The Beast That Shouted Love)
813 • Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones • (1968) • novelette by Samuel R. Delany
847 • Appendix: Hugo Awards 1962-1970 (The Hugo Winners, Volume II) • (1972) • essay by uncredited