“What He’s Poised to Do”–the first story in this collection–presents a business man who leaves his wife and son to travel to the city for work purposes. The business man stays in a hotel where he mets a female bartender. They connect and the result is a torrid love affair. The end of the story leaves the reader wondering if the business man will return to his wife and son or stay with his new-found love.

Most of the stories in What He’s Poised to Do explore the twists and turns of relationships between men and women. The lies, the half-truths, the simmering violence all fuel Ben Greenman’s stories where love almost always. goes wrong.

If you want to try to solve the mysteries of intimacy, infidelity, and romance gone wrong, What He’s Poised to Do will take you down some strange labyrinthian pathways. GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

What he’s poised to do — 1

Hope — 5

Barn — 13

Against Samantha — 31

Hunter and the hunted — 41

From the front — 55

Seventeen differents ways to get a load of that — 63

Down a pound — 81

Govindan Ananthanarayanan Academy for moral and ethical practice and the treatment of sadness resulting from the misapplication of the above — 93

Country life is the only life worth living : country love is the only love worth giving — 101

Bunch of blips — 111

To kill the pink — 123

What we believe but cannot praise — 135

Her hand — 167

Acknowledgements — 171

Season Two of Star Trek: Prodigy moves from Paramount+ to Netflix, but the animated series of 20 episodes still feature a group of young aliens who join Admiral Kathryn Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew) to find the original crew of the USS Protostar. Yes, Star Trek: Prodigy is aimed at a younger audience, but it appeals to my 12-year-old self that enjoys these Star Trek series. Are you a Star Trek fan? GRADE: Incomplete but trending towards a B.

Andrew Cartmel–best known for his popular Vinyl Detective series–returns with the second book in his The Paperback Sleuth saga.

Cordelia, a paperback book addict, is hired by the leaders of a West London yoga ashram to recover stolen yoga paperback books. Since Cordelia is always short of money because she buys vintage paperbacks all the time, she agrees to find the missing books.

A murder connected to the theft occurs and Cordelia wonders if she’ll be the next victim bludgeoned by a whiskey bottle. Later, Cordelia finds help in a Thrift Shop but the helper dies from poisoned curry!

After a couple of close calls, Cordelia finally discovers the plot behind the stolen books and has to defend herself from the murderer. If you like vintage paperbacks and rooting around Thrift Stores for old books, check out Ashram Assassin. Fun and entertaining! You can read my review of the first Paperback Sleuth mystery here. GRADE: B+

Spine Poems: An Eclectic Collection of Found Verse for Book Lovers by Annette Dauphin Simon is one of the more unusual books I’ve seen in a long time. Bright, colorful, and clever, Spine Poems stacks actual books and uses their spines to express a “found poem.” If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, this is the book for you! GRADE: A

About a month ago, I called Rite Aid for a refill on my Trulicity. My monthly injectors were all used up and I needed more for my weekly shot. I had been on Trulicity for over a year with few side-effects. But Rite Aid couldn’t get any Trulicity for me…or anybody else.

I called a dozen other pharmacies in my area. No one had Trulicity. After three weeks of striking out, I called my doctor to inform him that I couldn’t find Trulicity anywhere. “I’m switching you to Ozempic,” my doctor told me.

A couple hours later, Rite Aid called me to say my Ozempic was waiting for me at their Pharmacy. I drove over, picked it up, brought it home, and injected Ozempic. So far, so good. No side-effects yet. Are you on Ozempic? Do you want to be?

When I first discovered Tarzan in book form, it was ACE Books that opened the door to Edgar Rice Burroughs’s amazing creation. Sure, I had watched some Tarzan movies in the 1950s, but when the books came out, first published in paperback by ACE and later Ballantine Books, I was hooked! Tarzan’s journey’s through 24 books kept me entertained for a decade (now, more Tarzan pastiches are available, but nothing matches ERB’s originals). I was more than eager to follow Tarzan into the jungle depths. But I also loved Tarzan traveling down to the Earth’s core into the savage prehistoric land of Pellucidar. Great adventures! David A. Ullery is a wonderful guide to all things Tarzan. He covers is the long out of print The Tarzan Twins as well as the more recent Tarzan, the Lost Adventure and The Eternal Savage. Section One provides an overview of Tarzan the character, including a list of the many names and titles used by and given to Tarzan. Section Two covers the mythical language used in the novels, including a dictionary of the ape language. Section Three enumerates the lost cities, civilizations, tribes, peoples and religions discovered by Tarzan, detailing their religious rites and locations. Section Four describes the characters (human and otherwise) found in the novels. Section Five gives detailed summaries of all 24 books that comprise the Burroughs canon. The book also includes over thirty illustrations from the series’ various printings.

If you’re a fan of the Tarzan books, The Tarzan Novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs will inform you and delight you! Are you a Tarzan fan? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction	1
A Brief Biography of Edgar Rice Burroughs	7
Section One Portrait of Tarzan	9
Tarzan: The Man, the Myth, the Legend Tarzan by Any Other Name Tarzan’s Many Lovers	9 22 28
Section Two The Languages of Tarzan	35
Tha Aple Language The Language of Pal-ul-don The Language of the Ant Men	27 47 50
Section Three Lost Cities Civilizations Tribes Peoples and Religions	51
Section Four — Cast of Characters	124

Section Five Book Summaries	248
Index	291

“As 1981 rolled into 1982, the band was pushing , and I was no doubt reaching a crisis stage health-wise. To this day, looking at the cover of One Step Closer, that beautiful photo by Norman Seeff of us a Malibu beach at twilight, I can’t help but see the toll that alcohol and and drugs had taken on me by then. That photo, and a passport photo I took around that time, still looks to me like I had recently been beaten about the face with two-by-fours. The blackouts, the seizures, and the strained personal relationships–all of it was somehow still not enough to get me to admit my life was becoming increasingly unmanageable.” (p. 187)

And right about this time, Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers broke up just as their album hit Number One and they had a Number One single. Talk about Bad Timing!

What a Fool Believes is an honest autobiography of a successful singer who had a lot of problems. Michael McDonald dropped out of high school because of his struggles with attention deficit disorder. McDonald’s Big Break happened in the 1970s when he was asked to tour with Steely Dan. Both Donald Fagan and Walter Becker found McDonald’s unique voice useful in several songs like “Bad Sneakers,” “Black Friday,” and “Kid Charlemagne.”

McDonald’s luck ran out after a year when Fagan and Becker decided they didn’t want to tour any more. That’s when McDonald caught another Big Break when he was invited to join the Doobie Brothers. McDonald’s time with the Doobies brought both success and plenty of conflict with the other members of the band.

What a Fool Believes includes dozens of stories about the singers and groups Micheal McDonald worked with over his 50+ year career. McDonald doesn’t hold anything back about his drug-filled Life and his personal struggles. Very revealing. GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1		No Lookin’ Back Bass – Willie Weeks Drums – Jeff Porcaro Guitar – David Pack Soloist [Tom Drum] – George Perilli Written-By – Ed Sanford, Kenny Loggins, Michael Mcdonald	3:51
2		I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near) Backing Vocals – Maureen McDonald Bass – Louis Johnson Clavinet – Greg Phillinganes Drums – Jeff Porcaro Guitar – Steve Lukather Written-By – Ed Sanford, Jerry Leiber, Michael Mcdonald, Mike Stoller	3:42
3		I Gotta Try Backing Vocals – Kenny Loggins Bass – Willie Weeks Drums – Steve Gadd Guitar – Steve Lukather Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa, Ted Templeman Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Greg Phillinganes Synthesizer – Michael Boddicker Written-By – Kenny Loggins, Michael Mcdonald	3:53
4		Our Love (Theme From No Mercy) (Single Version) Bass – Abraham Laboriel Congas – Bobby LaKind Drums – Jeff Porcaro Guitar – Steve Lukather Percussion – Jeff Porcaro Synthesizer – Brian Mann	4:22
5		Yah Mo B There (Single Version) Drums – John Robinson (2) Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa Synthesizer – James Ingram, Michael Boddicker, Rod Temperton Vocals – James Ingram Voice [African] – Quincy Jones Written-By – James Ingram, Michael Mcdonald, Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton	4:31
6		On My Own Backing Vocals – Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Clydene Jackson, Evette Benton, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters Bass – Neil Stubenhaus Drums – Carlos Vega Guitar – Dann Huff Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa Piano [Acoustic] – Burt Bacharach Synthesizer – David Foster, Peter Wolf (3) Synthesizer [DX-7] – Greg Phillinganes Vocals – Patti LaBelle Written-By – Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager Bayer Sager	4:39
7		By Heart Bass – Willie Weeks Drums – Jeff Porcaro Drums [Simmons Toms] – Staff Fieldhouse Guitar – David Pack Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa Programmed By [Drums] – George Perilli Programmed By [Emulator] – Chris Pelonis Synthesizer – David Pack Synthesizer [Horns] – Scott Plunkett Written-By – Chuck Sabatino, David Pack, Michael Mcdonald Bass – Willie Weeks	4:31
8		Bad Times Bass – Nathan East Drums – Jeff Porcaro Guitar – David Pack Slide Guitar – Joe Walsh Synthesizer – Michael Hanna Written-By – Michael Mcdonald Bass – Nathan East	4:23
9		Matters Of The Heart Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks Backing Vocals – Alison Krauss, Vince Gill Finger Cymbals – Lenny Castro Programmed By [Drums] – Jimmy Bralower Triangle – Lenny Castro Written-By – Michael Mcdonald Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks Backing Vocals – Alison Krauss, Vince GillFinger Cymbals – Lenny CastroProgrammed By [Drums] – Jimmy BralowerTriangle – Lenny Castro Written-By – Michael Mcdonald	4:29
10		Sweet Freedom (Single Version) Arranged By [Horns] – Larry Williams, Rod Temperton Backing Vocals – Siedah Garrett Flute – David Boruff, Kim Hutchcroft Guitar – Michael Thompson, Paul Jackson Jr. Horns – Larry Williams Keyboards – Danny Sembello, Greg Phillinganes, Larry Williams, Rod Temperton, Tony Patler Saxophone – David Boruff, Kim Hutchcroft Synthesizer – Larry Williams Synthesizer [Synclavier] – Wells Christy Trombone – Bill Reichenbach (2) Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey Written-By – Rod Temperton	4:05
11		Get The Word Started Arranged By [Strings] – Paul Riser Backing Vocals – David Lasley, Harry Bowens, Kathy Walker, Sweet Pea Atkinson Bass – Charles Frichtel Congas – Debra Dobkin Drums – George Perilli Guitar – Bernie Chiaravalle Keyboards – Michael Hanna Soloist [Sax] – Vince Denham Written-By – David Pack, Michael Mcdonald	5:40
12		Any Foolish Thing Backing Vocals – Chuck Sabatino Bass – Willie Weeks Drums – Jeff Porcaro Synthesizer – Chuck Sabatino Tenor Saxophone – Cornelius Bumpus Written-By – Chuck Sabatino, Michael McDonald	4:24
13		Take It To Heart Arranged By – Paul Riser Backing Vocals – David Lasley, Sir Harry Bowens*, Sweet Pea Atkinson Drums – George Perilli Guitar – Bernie Chiaravalle Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa Programmed By [Synthesizer] – Don Was, John Tesh, Michael Hanna, Michael Mason Sequenced By [Synthesizer] – Don Was, John Tesh, Michael Hanna, Michael Mason Sitar [Coral] – Bernie Chiaravalle Written-By – Diane Warren, Michael Mcdonald	5:54
14		Higher Ground (Previously Unissued)Written-By – Stevie Wonder Written-By – Stevie Wonder	4:03
15		Lost In The Parade Bass – Willie Weeks Drums – Jeff Porcaro Drums [Simmons] – Staff Fieldhouse Guitar – Robert Ford Synthesizer – Brian Mann (4) Written-By – Grady Walker, Michael Mcdonald	3:48
16		Blink Of An Eye Alto Saxophone – Brandon Fields Arranged By [Horns] – David Frank Bass – Pino Palladino Bass [Synth] – Jeff Bova Clavinet – Jeff Bova Drums – George Perilli, John Robinson (2), Manu Katche*Organ [Hammond] – Benmont Tench Programmed By – David Frank Programmed By [Drums] – Jimmy Bralower Rhythm Guitar – Randy Jacobs, Robben Ford Soloist [Guitar] – Warren Haynes Synthesizer [Horns] – David Frank Tenor Saxophone – Albert Wing Trumpet – Lee Thornburg Written-By – George Perilli, Michael Mcdonald	4:53

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — ix

Love is a many-splendored thing — 1

My parents, Ray Charles, and Dr. Bilskey– 9

God, girls, and guitars — 18

Thank you, but that won’t be necessary — 27

New threads and New York City — 40

High school and marijuana (and not necessarily in that order) — 48

LA calls — 60

California dreams and a couple of nightmares — 65

One hit shy of a one-hit wonder — 78

What could possibly go wrong? — 89

Steely Dan and the (almost) murder of Aunt Mame — 97

The Dan’s European adventures — 106

Michael and Walter’s not-so-great adventure –118

Meet the Doobies — 123

Doobie or not doobie, that is the question — 133

Livin’ on the (It’s not my) fault line — 144

Minute by minute — 150

Don’t stop to watch the wheels come off — 163

Amy — 175

If that’s what it takes — 184

Our love — 196

Soundtracks, duets, and pigeons — 209

The million-dollar question — 217

In the blink of an eye — 230

Orientation day — 247

Nashville — 255

Tears to come — 268

As luck would have it — 274

Takin’ motown to the streets — 285

Through the many winters — 290

Doobie continued — 305

How do we land this thing? — 309

Michael McDonald Discography — 315

Acknowledgements — 323

Three Guns for Tonto: The Complete Tales of Sheriff Henry, Volume 7 is another wonderful collection of W. C. Tuttle stories. W. C. Tuttle was a prolific writer back in the Pulp Era and Steeger Press is in the process of reprinting all the Sheriff Henry Harrison Conroy adventures. This Volume 7 in the series collects two short novels.

Henry Harrison Conroy used to be a vaudeville comedy star. But his career was upended and Conroy headed to Arizona to claim an inheritance of a ranch. Conroy, based apparently on W. C. Fields, is elected Sheriff as a joke. He turns the joke on the town by remaining in office. Although Conroy knows nothing of the law, he solves mysteries and brings some justice to a lawless land. Conroy’s supporting cast includes his deputy – a retired lawyer who stays with him drink for drink, his jailer – a big goofy Swede, and a woman who likes him, but not his alcohol consumption.

In “The Shame of Arizona,” $35,000 in diamonds moves from place to place with bodies along the way. Two suspicious murders, the theft of horses, some Border irregularities, all mix together in an action-filled adventure with plenty of humor. GRADE: B+

In “Three Guns for Tonto” Sheriff Conroy is under heavy pressure by his rivals who want to see him turned out of office. The robbery of the Scorpion Bend Bank and two mysterious murders make Conroy look ineffectual. But, the Sheriff slowly puts the puzzle pieces together to decipher the crimes and show once again he’s the smartest man in Arizona. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Shame of Arizona — 1

The Guns for Tonto — 115

Let the Canary Sing takes the audience back to the beginning of Cyndi Lauper’s life in a lower-class Queens neighborhood through her rebellious youth pushing back against intolerance. As a child, Cyndi Lauper loved singing with her older sister, Ellen. But both girls had to deal with parents who were always fighting and a convent school where the nuns tried to tame the Laupers wild ways.

Both Cyndi Lauper and her sister left home at early ages. Cyndi joined the local music scene and slowly became a known as a talented but quirky singer. My favorite part of Let the Canary Sing were the scenes, using archival footage, of the writing and recording of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Cyndi Lauper did not like the original “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” She thought it was a guy’s song with a guy’s message. But Cyndi Lauper’s David Wolff, then Cyndi’s manager, managed to talk Cyndi into making changes to the song that made it acceptable to her and changed the focus to a girls’s song. Wolff was also responsible for the wrestling tie-in.

Alison Ellwood’s documentary Let the Canary Sing is a nostalgic exploration of the life and career of legendary pop icon Cyndi Lauper, along with a boisterous narrative anchored by the inimitable Lauper herself. If you’re a Cyndi Lauper fan, you won’t want to miss Let the Canary Sing, a marvelous documentary! GRADE: B+