Mike Madrid’s informative and entertaining survey of women characters in comic books makes history a playful romp. Supergirl, Wonder Woman, The Wasp, Bat-Girl, Bat-Woman, Black Widow, the Invisible Girl, Vampirella, and dozens more superhero characters are profiled in this book. Madrid maps the trends the comic book industry followed during the Golden Age and Silver Age. Other characters like Lois Lane (whose comic lasted 17 years!) and Lana Lang show how the story elements of their time determined the plots–usually romantic–those characters drove. If you’re looking for an insightful and detailed history of women characters in comics, Supergirls fits the bill.
Table of Contents:
Goddesses of tomorrow
1940’s: a secret life
The queen & the princess
1950’s: the girlfriends
Supergirl and the ballad of American youth
1960’s: the modern world
Girls together (outrageously)
1970’s: sirens & suffragettes
Wonder Woman’s extreme makeovers
1980’s: the dark road
Sex and the single superheroine
1990’s: the babe years
Heroine chic
2000 and beyond: mother love?
Acknowledgements
Index

I bought a Large Print edition of Randy Wayne White’s Gone at a library book sale. I’m fond of stories about Southern Florida that remind me of the great Travis McGee series John D. MacDonald wrote decades ago. Randy Wayne White’s heroine is a fishing guide named Hannah Smith. She’s a licensed private investigator in the State of Florida which comes in handy when one of her wealthy clients hires Hannah to find his missing niece. The niece is worth $90 million and was last seen with a sociopath. If you’re as fond of swamps and bogs and alligators as I am, you’ll find Hannah’s search for the missing girl suspenseful and thrilling. GRADE: B
Hannah Smith Novels:
Gone (2012, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, ISBN 978-0-399-15849-0)
Deceived (2013, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, ISBN 978-0-399-16207-7)
Haunted (2014, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, ISBN 978-0-399-16976-2)[6]

Finally, a Christmas album that passes Deb’s test! Yes, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is indeed here (it’s on the second disc) with plenty of other wonderful traditional Christmas music. No “Jingle Bell Rock” on this album. If you’re looking for plenty of wonderful Christmas music, this 2-CD collection will deliver all the sounds of Christmas you could want! GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST
Disc 1
O Holy Night – Budapest City Orchestra
It Came upon a Midnight Clear – Budapest City Orchestra
The First Noël – Budapest City Orchestra
The Sussex Carol – Budapest City Orchestra
Twelve Days of Christmas – Budapest City Orchestra
Silent Night – Budapest City Orchestra
We Wish You a Merry Christmas – BBC Philharmonic
In the Bleak Midwinter – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
O Little Town of Bethlehem – BBC Philharmonic
Once in Royal David’s City – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
O Come, All Ye Faithful – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Kyrie – Laurent Slaars
Ding Dong! Merrily on High – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Good King Wenceslas – Timothy Norris
While Shepherds Watched – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Away in a Manger – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
In dulci jubilo – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Panis angelicus – Libera
1st movement – Il Giardino Armonico
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – Alexander Lazarev
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – Budapest City Orchestra
Disc 2
Joy to the World – Joel Cohen
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Angels from the Realms of Glory – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Hallelujah – Nikolaus Harnoncourt
The Holly and the Ivy – BBC Philharmonic
Go Tell It on the Mountain – Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
March – Alexander Lazarev
O Tannenbaum – BBC Philharmonic
I Saw Three Ships – BBC Philharmonic
When Christ Was Born of Mary Free – Carleton Wetherington
Adam Lay y-Bounden – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
The First Nowell – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
We Three Kings of Orient Are – Taverner Choir
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
I Sing the Birth – Rodolfus Choir
Noël sur les instruments – William Christie
Nouvelles, nouvelles – Joel Cohen
Chantons Noël, menons joyeuse vie – Joel Cohen
The Three Kings – Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
O Thou that Tellest Good Tidings to Zion – Marjana Lipovsek
3rd movement – I Solisti Veneti

For that Doctor Who fan on your gift list, here’s a perfect present! All 11 Doctor Who Christmas Specials are here on three Blu-ray discs (DVD format is also available). I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since PBS started broadcasting episodes back in the 1970s. When the BBC “rebooted” the Doctor Who series for the 21st Century, I’ve been a huge fan. You need no prior Doctor Who exposure to enjoy these wonderful Christmas Specials. Plus you get a replica of the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver! It doesn’t get much better than this! GRADE: A

The Classic Christmas 80s Album flunks the Deb Test (no “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” here!) but for the nostalgia lover on your gift list, here’s a Christmas CD that will bring back a lot of memories. My favorite song on this CD is Hall & Oates’s “Jingle Bell Rock.” The songs on this album run the gamut from rap–“Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C.–to heart-felt–“This One’s For the Children” by New Kids on the Block–to uplifting, Whitney Houston’s moving version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” This is one of the eclectic Christmas song collections I’ve heard. What’s your favorite Christmas song? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1. Christmas Wrapping – Waitresses
2. Last Christmas – Wham!
3. Hazy Shade of Winter – Bangles
4. Christmas In Hollis – Run-D.M.C.
5. Jingle Bell Rock – Oates & Oates
6. Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
7. Christmas Is the Time to Say “I Love You” – Billy Squier
8. Run Rudolph Run – Dave Edmunds
9. Zat You Santa Claus – Buster Poindexter & His Banshees of Blue
10. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Pointer Sisters
11. Christmas Time Is Here – Ray Parker
12. Twelve Days of Christmas – Bob McKenzie
13. This One’s for the Children – New Kids on the Block
14. Slick Nick, You Devil You – Fishbone
15. Silent Night – Hooters

After the Bills (5-6) loss in Kansas City last Sunday their chances of making the Playoffs plunged to a mere 20%. Today’s game against the suddenly resurgent Houston Texans (6-5) looks like another loss for the red-white-and-blue. I was hoping for snow which might affect the Texans, but the weather-guessers are predicting a 50 degree day (a rare event here in December!). How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

You would think that 100 CDs of Christmas music would be enough, but somehow each year I buy a couple more. I read some positive reviews of Rhonda Vincent’s Christmas album and AMAZON had it on sale for $6 on Cyber Monday so I ordered it. If you’re a fan of fiddle and bluegrass music, you’ll really like these songs. Check out the sample below. There are some standards with some new songs mixed in. I found it entertaining. GRADE: B+
SET LIST:
Dreaming of Christmas
Angels We Have Heard on High
Twelve Days of Christmas
Christmas Time
Christmas Time at Home
Milk & Cookies
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Jingle Bells
Away in a Manger
Silent Night
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Christmas Medley: What a Child Is This/We Three Kings/It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It’s hard to believe I’ve contributed 350 Friday’s Forgotten Books posts to Patti Abbott. I wanted to do something a little special to celebrate the occasion so I’ve chosen a book that electrified me the first time I read it. Harlan Ellison’s Ellison Woderland thrilled me in 1962. I was 14 years old and by that time I was reading a book a day. But none of the books I read were as different as Ellison Wonderland. The short stories in this collection were completely original and astonishing for their time. Years later, I read the Bluejay edition of Ellison Wonderland. Harlan Ellison prefers this edition of his stories (he “tweaked” some of them). In the Introduction to this later edition, Ellison writes about the impact Ellison Wonderland had on his writing career. It allowed Ellison to move to L.A. and begin writing for television programs like Burke’s Law and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. So Ellison Wonderland impacted Ellison’s life and my life. If you haven’t read Ellison Wonderland, you’re missing a classic!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: The Man on the Mushroom
Commuter’s Problem
Do-it-yourself
The Silver Corridor
All the Sounds of Fear
Gnomebody
The Sky is Burning
Mealtime
The Very Last Day of a Good Woman
Battlefield
Deal from the Bottom
The Wind Beyond the Mountains
Back to the Drawing Boards
Nothing for My Noon Meal
Hadj
Rain, Rain, Go Away
In Lonely Lands

Impulse buying happens in stores. Impulse book choices happen when I’m in a library minding my own business and a book catches my eye. That’s what happened when I saw Dinty Moore’s slim little volume, Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy. Moore invited his essay writing friends to send him questions which he uses as a launching pad for a mostly comic essay. If you check out the Table of Contents you’ll see how wacky things get. I read the book in about an hour. It was fun while it lasted. If you’re looking for something different and quirky, this is it. GRADE: B+
Table Of Contents
introduction 1
A Question from Phillip Lopate & “Of Old Girlfriends” 4
A Question from Cheryl Strayed & “Dash It All” 14
A Question from Julianna Baggott & “The Napkin Is the Message” 22
A Question from Judith Kitchen & “A Striped Essay” 44
A Question from Barrie Jean Borich & “Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge” 56
A Question from Lia Purpura & “Understanding Your Cauliflower” 70
A Question from Sue William Silverman & “How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman” 78
A Question from B.J. Hollars & “Have You Learned Your Lesson, Amigo?” 86
A Question from Diane Ackerman & “Of Bums” 100
A Question from Dinah Lenney & “Pulling Teeth, or Twenty Reasons Why My Daughter’s Turning Twenty Can’t Come Soon Enough” 106
A Question from Philip Graham & “How to Choose an Appropriate Essay Topic” 116
A Question from Michael Martone & “Four Essential Tips for Telling the Truth in Memoir and Securing That Blockbuster Book Deal” 120
A Question from Patrick Madden & “The Actual Message Mike the Tree Guy Left on My Answering Machine the Evening I Arrived Home to Find that the Tree He Was Cutting Down When I Left
for Work That Morning Still Stood Tall in My Side Yard” 136
A Question from Steve Almond & “An Essay on the Inherent Dangers of Memoir Writing” 140
A Question from Ander Monson & “Nelson Algren’s Shorts” 144
A Question from Brenda Miller & “Why I Trained My Dog to Post” 154
A Question from David Shields & “Beep! Beep!” 168
A Question from Roxane Gay & “Don’t Read This Essay” 174
A Question from Brian Doyle & “Clogged and Stupid and Weary” 182
A Question from Lee Gutkind 186
acknowledgments 191
about the author 193
index 195

If you’re looking for something for that art buff on your holiday gift list, consider The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History just published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. Stephen Jones knows horror (he’s edited several horror and faux-Lovecraft anthologies). Zombies, vampires, and things that go bump in the night are all here. Great illustrators like Virgil Finlay, Hannes Bok, Kelly Freas, Les Edwards, Vincent Chong, Michael Whelan, and Berni Wrightson are well represented. Over 250 pages of wonderful artwork and a running commentary on the trends in horror over the decades: what more could you ask for! GRADE: A