Diane’s Book Club (now more of a virtual Book Club) chose Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders for their September book. Diane had never read it although she has read several Christie mysteries. I read The ABC Murders back in the 1960s when I went on an Agatha Christie binge and read a couple dozen of her mysteries in a row. It blew my mind!

When Diane tried to take out the LARGE PRINT edition of The ABC Murders from the Library, she discovered it was out (probably to one of her Book Club members). So Diane decided to take out the audiobook version. After listening to 38 CDs of GRANT listening to five CDs of The ABC Murders was a snap.

This audiobook version of The ABC Murders is “performed” by Hugh Frazer (the actor who plays Captain Hastings in the PBS Hercule Poirot series). Diane and I both liked Frazer’s narration and his gift to create a unique “voice” for each character.

This 1936 mystery involves a serial killer who kills in alphabetical order: A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bextill, C is for Sire Carmichael Clarke in Churston. An ABC Railway Guide is found near each dead body. And before each murder, the murderer sends Hercule Poirot a letter predicting (and gloating about) his crimes. If you haven’t read The ABC Murders you’re missing one of the more iconic mysteries in the Christie pantheon. Do you have a favorite Hercule Poirot mystery? GRADE: A

Diane was reading one of her favorite magazines, Real Simple, when she came across an article that recommended Turkey Hill Belgian Style Chocolate Ice Cream. The next time Diane was shopping at Wegmans, she checked out the ice cream section and found Turkey Hill Belgian Style Chocolate Ice Cream. She brought it home and we sampled it.

It you like smooth, creamy chocolate ice cream, you’ll love Turkey Hill Belgian Style Chocolate Ice Cream. Very yummy! Are you a fan of ice cream? What’s your favorite flavor? GRADE: A

An instant classic!

Although I’ve never been a fan of Algis Budrys’ Science Fiction, I do admire his critical acumen. Back in 2013 I bought and read Budrys’ Benchmarks and Benchmarks Continued (you can read my review here). Wonderful book reviews from Galaxy and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. But Budrys wrote a lot more than just two books worth of SF criticism.

Beyond the Outposts collects longer essays that Budrys wrote in a variety of magazines and journals. This is clearly a labor of love to gather these wonder works between two covers. Just glance at the Table of Contents to assess the range of these essays. If you’re a Science Fiction fan, you’ll love what you’ll find here. I highly recommend Beyond the Outposts! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: David Langford — 7

Introduction to Outposts: Algis Budrys — 9
Or Thwim –11
Two Novels of Science –17
About Something Truly Wonderful — 20
On Rogue Moon — 23
On Budrys’ Inferno — 27
“Most Scrutinized SF Writer” — 29
Comment on “Contact Between Equals” — 31
Foreword to “Twilight” (John W. Campbell) — 34
Foundation and Asimov — 36
On Writing: The Locus Columns — 41
On Being a Bit of a Legend –82
Science Fiction in the Marketplace — 87
Short Takes 1979-1981 — 94
Memoir – Galaxy Book Shelf — 105
Memoir – Spilled Milk — 109
Asimov’s Autobiography — 114
Two Sketches: Damon Knight and Robert Silverberg — 117
Paradise Charted — 121
Stephen King in the 1980s — 173
The Empire Talks Back — 179
Tom Reamy: A Rare & Masterful Fantasist — 188
Scanners Writhe in Pain — 195
Obstacles and Ironies in Science-Fiction Criticism — 199
The Ideas of Mary McCarthy — 209
What Did 1980 Mean? –212
Pulp! –223
1981 and Counting — 231
Gene Wolfe — 237
Introducing Lloyd Arthur Eshbach — 239
Non-Literary Influences on Science Fiction — 245
Bridges to Verity — 264
The Revenge of the Empire — 268
Clarifying Clarion — 284
Literatures of Milieux — 290
Reviewing Heinlein — 304
1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Other SF Novels, Signs, and Portents — 308
Pop Lit: Reviews — 317
Memoir – “The Man Who Tasted Ashes” — 325
What Was 1985 That We Were Mindful of It? — 331
1986, Reduced from 2000 — 339
New World in the Morning — 344
Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy — 350
Introducing Theodore R. Cogswell and PITFCS — 359
Beyond Rayguns and Godzilla — 362

Some Notes –371
Acknowledgements — 373
Original Appearances — 374
Index — 377

Original Appearances

• “1981 and Counting” – Nebula Award Stories Seventeen (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, August 1983) edited by Joe Haldeman.
• “1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Other SF Novels, Signs, and Portents” – The Science Fiction Yearbook (New York: Baen Books, September 1985) edited by Jim Baen, John F. Carr and Jerry Pournelle.
• “1986, Reduced from 2000” – Nebula Awards 22 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, April 1988) edited by George Zebrowski.
• “About Something Truly Wonderful” – The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1961, edited by Joseph W. Ferman.
• “Asimov’s Autobiography” – In Memory Yet Green from Des Moines IA Register, 25 March 1979*; In Joy Still Felt from Manhattan KS Mercury, 27 April 1980*.
• “Beyond Rayguns and Godzilla” – Outposts: Literatures of Milieux (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press; dated 1996, published 1997) by Algis Budrys.
• “Bridges to Verity” – Fantasy Review #64, January 1984, edited by Robert A. Collins.
• “Clarifying Clarion” – Asimov’s SF, June 1984, edited by Shawna McCarthy.
• “Comment on ‘Contact Between Equals’” – SF: Authors’ Choice 2 (New York: Berkley Medallion, 1970) edited by Harry Harrison.
• “The Empire Talks Back” – Asimov’s SF, November 1980, edited by George Scithers.
• “Foreword to ‘Twilight’ (John W. Campbell)” – The Mirror of Infinity: A Critic’s Anthology of Science Fiction (New York: Harper and Row, May 1970) edited by Robert Silverberg.
• “Foundation and Asimov” – as “The Reference Library: Foundation and Asimov” in Analog, July 1975, edited by Ben Bova.
• “Gene Wolfe” – World Fantasy 1983: Sixty Years of Weird Tales, October 1983, edited by Robert Weinberg (1983 World Fantasy Convention souvenir book).
• “The Ideas of Mary McCarthy” – as “Books” in Omni, October 1981, edited by Dick Teresi.
• “Introducing Lloyd Arthur Eshbach” – as “Introduction” in Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Oswald Train, October 1983).
• “Introducing Theodore R. Cogswell and PITFCS” – as “Introduction” in PITFCS: Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies edited by Theodore R. Cogswell (Chicago, Illinois: Advent:Publishers, December 1992).
• “Introduction to Outposts” – as “Introduction” in Outposts: Literatures of Milieux (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press: dated 1996, published 1997) by Algis Budrys.
• “Literatures of Milieux” – Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction #31, July 1984, edited by David Pringle. A shorter version also appeared in The Missouri Review, Winter 1984, edited by Speer Morgan.
• “Memoir – Galaxy Book Shelf” – Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction (New York: Playboy Press, March 1980) edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander; includes edited Galaxy Book Shelf from Galaxy, September 1969, edited by Ejler Jakobsson.
• “Memoir – Spilled Milk” – Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction (New York: Playboy Press, March 1980) edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander.
• “Memoir – ‘The Man Who Tasted Ashes’” – Worlds of If: A Retrospective Anthology (New York: Bluejay Books, September 1986) edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander.
• “Most Scrutinized SF Writer” – contribution to “Heinlein: After 30 Years” symposium in Speculation #24, September/October 1969, edited by Peter Weston.
• “New World in the Morning” – Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, Winter (December) 1988, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• “Non-Literary Influences on Science Fiction” – Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm chapbook, 1983. Original copyright notice: “This essay, appearing here for the first time in its complete form, is copyright © 1983 by Algis Budrys. All rights reserved. An earlier version, in edited form, appeared in Science Fiction Dialogues (Gary K. Wolfe, editor; Academy Chicago), copyright © 1982 by The Science Fiction Research Association.”
• “Obstacles and Ironies in Science-Fiction Criticism” – The Patchin Review #2, September 1981, edited by Charles Platt.
• “On Being a Bit of a Legend” – Science Fiction Review #24, February 1978, edited by Richard E. Geis.
• “On Budrys’ Inferno” – as “Introduction” to Budrys’ Inferno (New York: Berkley Medallion, July 1963) by Algis Budrys, reissued as The Furious Future (London: Panther Books, 1966). Bonus “Comment on ‘Walk to the World’” from First Flight: Maiden Voyages in Space and Time (New York: Lancer Books, August 1963) edited by Damon Knight.
• “On Rogue Moon” – as “Algis Budrys Replies” [to Gordon Dickson] in Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies Special Series #141, November 1961, edited by Theodore R. Cogswell.
• “On Writing” columns – Locus #201, May 1977 [1]; #202, July 1977 [2]; #203, August 1977 [3]; #205, October 1977 [4]; #206, November 1977 [5]; #207, December 1977 [6]; #208, January/February 1978 [7]; #209, March 1978 [8]; #210, April 1978 [9]; #212, July 1978 [10]; #213, August 1978 [11]; #214, September 1978 [12]; #215, October 1978 [13]; #216, November 1978 [14]; #218, January 1979 [15]; #222, June 1979 [16]; and #223, July/August 1979 [17]. All edited by Charles N. Brown.
• “Or Thwim” – Inside #10, July 1955, edited by Ron Smith.
• “Paradise Charted” – TriQuarterly #49, Fall 1980, guest-edited by David G. Hartwell.
• “Pop Lit” – Chicago Sun-Times reviews, usually for the Pop Lit department: Angels of September, 15 January 1986; The Bourne Supremacy, 2 March 1986; Koko and The Silence of the Lambs, 21 August 1988; Wyvern, 9 October 1988; Red Army and The Negotiator, 30 April 1989; The Bourne Ultimatum, 4 March 1990.
• “Pulp!” – Science Fiction Review #45, Winter (November) 1982, edited by Richard E. Geis.
• “The Revenge of the Empire” – Amazing Stories, March 1984, edited by George Scithers.
• “Reviewing Heinlein” – from “Interview: Algis Budrys” by Mark Berry in Science Fiction Review #53, Winter (November) 1984, edited by Richard E. Geis.
• “Scanners Writhe in Pain” – Asimov’s SF, August 1981, edited by George Scithers.
• “Science Fiction in the Marketplace” – Nebula Winners Twelve (New York: Harper and Row, February 1978) edited by Gordon Dickson.
• “Short Takes 1979-1981” – “Stardance” as “Sci fi writers get out of closet” in Madison WI Capital Times, 3 May 1979*; “The Pleasure Tube” from “Science Fiction: A Way To Say Something New” in Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 May 1979*; “Soviet SF” as “SCIENCE FICTION: American ‘screenplays’ and Soviet ‘stage plays’” in San Francisco Examiner(California), 16 July 1979*; “James Blish” as “Late science-fiction writer now seen as top author” in Binghamton NY Press and Sun-Bulletin, 16 September 1979*; “Genre and Mainstream” from “Lessing bombs in sci-fi genre” in The Medicine Hat News (Alberta, Canada), 22 October 1979*; “Working with Students” from Focus on Writing, undated ?1979, edited by David A. Sohn for District 65 Evanston, IL, Elementary Schools; “SF in the 1970s” as “SF was changed by ’70s” in Colorado Springs Gazette, 19 January 1980*; “SF Detective Stories” from “Science Fiction Detective Stories” in Lincoln NE Journal and Star, 3 August 1980*; “The Number of the Beast” from “Science Fiction Offerings” in Huntsville AL Times, 7 September 1980*; “Dream Makers” from “It’s Great Time of Year To Buy Mystery Thrillers” in Huntsville AL Times, 14 December 1980*; “Expanded Universe” from “Some sci-fi to make you angry” in Butte MT Montana Standard, 5 May 1981*; “The Mind Reels” from the differently edited versions “Sci-fi novels make mind reel” in Colorado Springs Gazette, 26 September 1981*, and “New science fiction offerings filled with intrigue, adventure” in Madison WI Capital Times, 15 October 1981*; “The Human Zero” as “Sci fi by E.S. Gardner” in Lincoln NE Journal and Star, 10 October 1981*.
• “Stephen King in the 1980s” – reviews of Firestarter from Mobile AL Press-Register, 28 September 1980*; Different Seasons from Odessa TX American, 12 August 1982*; Christine from Vancouver BC (Canada) Sun, 15 April 1983; It from Chicago Sun-Times, 24 August 1986; Misery from Chicago Sun-Times, 21 June 1987.
• “Tom Reamy: A Rare & Masterful Fantasist” – Trumpet #12, Summer 1981, edited by Ken Keller.
• “Two Novels of Science” – Science-Fiction Five-Yearly #3, November/December 1961, edited by Lee Hoffman.
• “Two Sketches: Damon Knight and Robert Silverberg” – from “Damon Knight: Two Sketches” (the other being by Robert A.W. Lowndes) and “Robert Silverberg: Two Sketches” (the other being by Terry Carr) in the Noreascon Two Souvenir Book (Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 1980).
• “What Did 1980 Mean?” – Nebula Award Stories Sixteen (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, August 1982) edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr.
• “What Was 1985 That We Were Mindful of It?” – Nebula Awards 21 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, December 1986) edited by George Zebrowski.
• “Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy” – New Destinies #7, Spring 1989, edited by Jim Baen (with a 1988 copyright date given for this essay only); Eugene, Oregon: Pulphouse Publishing chapbook reissue, 1990.

* The starred items from various US and Canadian newspapers are all syndicated articles with original publication credits to the Chicago Sun-Times.

It’s hard to believe these “hits” are 18 years old! I can barely remember 2002. But, I do remember Fat Joe and Ashanti singing “What’s Luv?” It was a staple on MTV and VH1 (remember them?). And, of course, there’s Pink’s classic “Get the Party Started.” I’m a fan of Michelle Branch’s “Everywhere.” My son Patrick played a lot of Alanis Morissette so I’m very familiar with “Hands Clean.” “A Woman’s Worth” by Alicia Keys had a lot of radio play in 2002. The same with LeAnn Rimes’ “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1. Fat Joe featuring Ashanti – “What’s Luv?” (3:51)
2. Tweet featuring Missy Elliott – “Oops (Oh My)” (Radio Edit) (3:55)
3. Pink – “Get the Party Started” (3:10)
4. Brandy – “What About Us?” (Radio Mix) (3:57)
5. Craig David – “7 Days” (3:52)
6. Fabolous – “Young’n (Holla Back)” (3:26)
7. Outkast featuring Killer Mike – “The Whole World” (4:17)
8. Michelle Branch – “Everywhere” (3:33)
9. The Calling – “Wherever You Will Go” (3:25)
10. Default – “Wasting My Time” (4:27)
11. P.O.D. – “Youth of the Nation” (4:04)
12. Alanis Morissette – “Hands Clean” (4:27)
13. Natalie Imbruglia – “Wrong Impression” (4:14)
14. Jewel – “Standing Still” (4:29)
15. O-Town – “We Fit Together” (3:57)
16. Faith Evans – “I Love You” (4:00)
17. Alicia Keys – “A Woman’s Worth” (4:16)
18. LeAnn Rimes – “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” (Graham Stack Radio Edit) (3:36)
19. Busta Rhymes with P. Diddy & Pharrell – “Pass the Courvoisier, Part II” (4:10)
20. Jaheim featuring Next – “Anything” (4:04)

Small Favor is the 10th book in the Harry Dresden series (and one of the longer books at 541 pages). Harry Dresden is a professional Wizard and Private Investigator in Chicago. Dresden is approached by Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, who Dresden owes a favor. That small favor balloons into the size of a dirigible as more sinister forces enter the picture.

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, these Dresden books feature battles. Some of the battles involve Magic. Some battles involve automatic weapons. Some battles involve both Magic and advanced weaponry. Small Favor amps up the battles with a furious fight in an aquarium. But, that’s just a warmup.

The final battle in Small Favor is a titanic conflict on an eerie island in the middle of Lake Michigan that’s not on any maps. Magic, machine guns, and hand-to-hand fighting result as Dresden tries to settle some scores and discover who has been manipulating the action. Of course, some questions remain unanswered to fuel the next book in the series. Exciting reading! GRADE: A

I’ve had this DVD set on my shelf for three or four years, but I finally watched it (thank you, Coronavirus Pandemic!). I’d seen all four of these Lauren Bacall movies in the Past and enjoyed re-watching them. Key Largo, Blood Alley, Dark Passage, and Designing Woman may not be the best Lauren Bacall films of all time (I would choose The Big Sleep). But there’s plenty to like here.

Lauren Bacall lights up the screen every time she’s on it. And these four films show Bacall’s range from a femme fatale to a comic figure. Are you a Lauren Bacall fan? Do you have a favorite Lauren Bacall movie? GRADE: B+ (for all four movies)

I’ve admired James Wood’s essays for a couple of decades. Serious Noticing collects 510 pages of Wood’s “greatest hits” in one handy volume. My favorite essay in this collection is “Fun Stuff: Homage to Keith Moon.” Keith Moon was the talented drummer of The Who until he died in September of 1978 from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug intended to treat or prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Wood loves Keith Moon’s wackiness–which earned him the monicker “Moon the Loon”–and is moved to take up the drums himself as a kid.

Wood moves on from rock drummers to serious writers like Chekhov, Bellow, Tolstoy, Roth, Auster, Orwell, Austen, Cormac McCarthy, Sebald, Dostoevsky, “Elena Ferrante,” Virginia Woolf, and Marilynne Robinson among others. My impressions of Wood after reading these essays is that Wood seemingly has read just about everything these writers have ever published. Plenty of details and sharp analysis feature into Wood’s essays. If you’re in the mood for some intelligent literary criticism, Serious Noticing is the place to find it. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION – 1

Fun stuff: homage to Keith Moon — 15

What Chekhov meant by life — 34

Serious noticing — 49

Saul Bellow’s comic style — 74

Anna Karenina and characterization — 91

Joseph Roth’s empire of signs — 109

Paul Auster’s shallowness — 129

Hysterical realism — 144

Bohumil Hrabal’s comic world — 164

George Orwell’s very English revolution — 179

Jane Austen’s heroic consciousness — 179

Cormac McCarthy’s the road — 207

Reality examined to the point of madness’: László Krasznahorkai — 240

Wounder and wounded — 254

On not going home — 270

Other side of silence: rereading W. G. Sebald — 294

Becoming them — 315

Don Quixote’s old and new testaments — 325

Dostoevsky’s god — 338

Helen Garner’s savage honesty — 358

All and the if: God and metaphor in Melville — 372

Elena Ferrante — 393

Virginia Woolf’s Mysticism — 407

Job existed: Primo Levi — 426

Marilynne Robinson — 447

Ismail Kadare — 458

Jenny Erpenbeck — 479

Packing my father-in-law’s library — 493

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS — 509

Guy Haley’s Reality 36 (2011) and Omega Point (2012) should be read as just one long book. Subtitled “A Richards & Klein Investigation,” both books feature Richards–a Class 5 Artificial Intelligence–and Otto Klein–a combat cyborg–who find themselves helping various Government agencies as the threat level zooms to disaster. Some unknown power is attempting to conquer the 36 Reality Realms–cyber worlds for the world’s game players. This entity wants to use the digital worlds as a launching point for an attack on our real world.

While Richards and Klein investigate the invasion of the Reality Realms by a hostile entity, Veronique Valdaire–a skilled computer scientist–flees our reality to find her mentor, Professor Zhang Qifang, in the Reality Realms while teams of assassins hunt for her.

In Omega Point Richards also enters the digital Reality Realms and links up with a talking Bear and a lion that can shift from cloth to stone. Meanwhile, hostile elements attack Klein and Veronique in the real world as they try to find a hacker named Waldo who can threaten k52’s plan to destroy all the humans on Earth.

Reality 36 was Guy Haley’s first novel and the convoluted plot carries over to Omega Point. Haley learned from these books because the other Haley novels I’ve read, The Emperor’s Railroad (2015) and The Ghoul King (2016), are much shorter and satisfying. You can read my reviews here and here. GRADE: B (for both books)

There are over 2000 covers to various Batman comic books and graphic novels. Batman Cover to Cover only collects a few hundred ranging from the 1930s to the 2000s. I started reading Batman comic books in the 1950s. They were cheap–a dime–and available everywhere. Down the street from my grandparent’s house was a drug store that had a large magazine section that included comic books. Every time my mother and father would take us to visit my grandparents, I managed to wrangle a trip to the drug store where I’d buy a couple of comic books, usually The Flash and Batman, my two favorites.

Basically, comic book covers marketed the product. That’s why the cover artwork on comic books look so bold and daring. Batman Cover to Cover brings back a lot of memories. Did you read comic books as a kid? What were your favorites? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 8

The dark knight — 10
You never forget your first time / Reflections by Neil Gaiman — 34
Fearsome foes — 46
Creating the covers in the golden age / A chat with Jerry Robinson — 72
Welcome to fun city — 74
The dynamic duo — 85
Batman by design — 102
The cover logo / An examination by Rian Hughes — 126
Death traps — 128
Guilty — 150
Creating the covers in the silver age / Recollections by Neal Adams — 156
The Batman family — 158
Bats — 177
Creating the covers today / A chat with Bob Schreck — 186
Bizarre Batman — 188
Secrets of the Batcave — 195
Batman covers around the world — 206
A death in the family — 208
Assembling the covers — 220
Milestones — 222
World’s finest — 231
The greatest cover? / Alex Ross, Chip Kidd and Mark Hamill choose — 238