Another week, another book sale! The NT Historical Museum Book Sale also featured a “Bag Sale.” Buy a shopping bag for $5 and you get to take home all the books you can stuff into it. All of these books are as thick as a brick so they filled the bag quick. Still, what a deal!
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you hard-working moms! Katie gave Diane a signed first edition of Anna Quindlen’s new book, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Nice! Patrick is in Barcelona, Spain for a job interview. I’m sure he’ll bring Diane a wonderful present (nudge, nudge) back from Spain. We’re hosting Diane’s Mom and my Mom and eight other guests for Mother’s Day dinner. We’re reenacting Thanksgiving: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, salad, veggies, chocolate cake, and strawberry short cake. Yum!
Home improvements continue at the Kelley Chateau. Diane is pondering new countertops for our kitchen. But our leaky old kitchen faucet took priority. Our fix-it guy came over, scoped out the job, and then it was off to Home Depot. Diane picked out the Moen Chateau Chrome kitchen faucet because it was almost identical to the old faucet. It works exactly the same way. Our fix-it guy also installed some shut-off valves as part of the installation. That way, we don’t have to turn off all the water in our house if there’s a future problem with the kitchen faucet. The battle against entropy continues…
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Max Allan Collins finished this manuscript of a Mike Hammer novel. If you’re a fan of Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer, this is a must-buy. Somehow Max Allan Collins manages to channel Spillane. The writing of both authors is seamless in this book. Lady, Go Die! was lost in the 1940s. It’s the Mike Hammer novel Spillane wrote between I, the Jury and My Gun Is Quick. But it was never published. Yes, it’s a relic of the past, but I enjoyed reading every page!
I found reading John Leonard a little like eating chocolate cake. A little is great, a lot is too much. Partly because of Leonard’s almost beatnik writing style, partly because Leonard’s sentences meandered all over the place, and finally because no one else wrote like him, I grew to be a fan of John Leonard. I believe the New York Times Book Review was at its best when Leonard was the Editor. When the New York Times ran a column in the Arts & Leasure section written by “Deep Eyes” (a variation of “Deep Throat”) I knew immediately it was John Leonard. For 16 years, Leonard appeared on CBS SUNDY MORNING with movie reviews and social commentary. Reading For My Life collects a sampling of Leonard’s work: essays, book reviews, film reviews, thought pieces, and political analysis. Just reading Leonard’s scintillating prose again brought back how much I miss him. John Leonard was one-of-a-kind. GRADE: A
If you’re in the mood for some snarky British social commentary, Edward St. Aubyn’s The Patrick Melrose Novels delivers some very black humor. The four novels in this omnibus volume, Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, and Mother’s Milk tell the life story of Patrick Melrose whose father is abusive and whose mother concerns herself with saving the world rather than taking care of her son. In Bad News, Edward St. Aubyn creates the frighteningly real world of a drug addict. Patrick Melrose spends most of the novel chasing around New York City trying to score some drugs. Yes, there’s humor but it’s pretty grim. Bad News is the most convincing depiction of addiction that I’ve ever read. St. Aubyn cleverly develops the arc of Patrick Melrose’s life from childhood to middle age. The books are filled with witty conversations and shocking scandals. Edward St. Aubyn captures life in this segment of the British class system perfectly. If you put P. G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh in a blender, the result would be Edward St. Aubyn. GRADES: Never Mind, B; Bad News, A; Some Hope, B; Mother’s Milk, B+
The Tim Burton movie version of Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp opens this Friday, May 11. But for hardcore fans, this 131 DVD box set is the Holy Grail. All 400 episodes of the TV vampire soap opera are here in a convenient coffin carrying case. Formerly available only as a limited edition, this boxed set contains every eerie episode of the original series. Dark Shadows was broadcast on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Also included in this set are interviews with the stars and members of the production team that made this supernatural thriller series a cult favorite. AMAZON has this bargain priced at $419.99 (retail: $600).
Every year, the North Tonawanda Public Library hosts a Book Sale. The tables are full of X-library books and donations. And, each year at the end of the book sale, there’s the “Bag Sale” day. For $5, you get to fill a grocery bag with as many books as you can jam in. These books filled my bag!
Tonight, the updated Sherlock Holmes series begins its second season with A Scandal in Belgravia. Next week, it’s The Hounds of the Baskervilles, and Season 2 finishes up with The Reichenbach Fall. Some Sherlockians might object to bringing Sherlock into the 21st Century, but I find these programs great fun. PBS has been rebroadcasting Season One and Season One is available on DVD and Blu-ray. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the quirky Holmes, is also going to star in the next Star Trek movie.
Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, pulls off a minor miracle in blending Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor into a fast-paced action movie. Those of you familiar with the Avengers from the Marvel comic books know that six more dysfunctional characters would be hard to imagine. Yet, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (played by Samuel L. Jackson) manages to bring them together to fight an invasion led by Thor’s evil brother, Loki. Great battle scenes! Manhattan gets trashed. And, as always, the door is open for a sequel. I enjoyed The Avengers, it’s a perfect summer movie! GRADE: A