Benjamin Dreyer is the Copy Chief of Random House. I believe that Dreyer’s experience as a copy editor makes Dreyer’s English stand out from the crowded field of grammar/style books. While William Strunk and E. B. White’s Elements of Style and Lynne Truss’s Eats Shoots and Leaves are useful and fun guides, Dreyer’s English provides a more systematic and organized approach.

Benjamin Dreyer has copyedited books by E. L. Doctorow, Frank Rich, and Elizabeth Strout. I found it revealing that Dreyer’s favorite writer is Shirley Jackson. Dreyer worked on Jackson’s Let Me Tell You, a volume of uncollected work by this underrated writer. If you enjoy reading about grammar and writing style, you’ll find Dreyer’s English a practical and illuminating tour of the writing process delightful. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
Table of Contents
Introduction: By Way of Introduction xi
Part I The Stuff in the Front 1
Chapter 1 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Your Prose) 3
Chapter 2 Rules and Nonrules 6
Chapter 3 67 Assorted Things to Do (and Not to Do) with Punctuation 20
Chapter 4 1, 2, 3, Go: The Treatment of Numbers 67
Chapter 5 Foreign Affairs 74
Chapter 6 A Little Grammar Is a Dangerous Thing 84
Chapter 7 The Realities of Fiction 102
Part II The Stuff in the Back 127
Chapter 8 Notes on, Amid a List of, Frequently and/or Easily Misspelled Words 129
Chapter 9 Peeves and Crotchets 147
Chapter 10 The Confusables 166
Chapter 11 Notes on Proper Nouns 210
Chapter 12 The Trimmables 242
Chapter 13 The Miscellany 252
Outro: By Way of Conclusion 267
Things I Like 269
Acknowledgments 271
Index 279

I grew up reading the Hardy Boys…and Nancy Drew. Yes, I enjoyed Nancy Drew mysteries just as much as the Hardy Boys series. When I was nine years old, I binged on dozens of mystery novels for kids. In a year or two, I graduated to Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, and The Saint. A year or two after that, I was reading Carter Brown, Mike Shayne mysteries, and plenty of DELL hard-boiled detective paperbacks.

But, my reading passion for mysteries was ignited by the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase movie appealed to me. Sophia Lillis plays the plucky investigator in this updated version of the original The Hidden Staircase first published in 1938 (with revised updated editions appearing every few years). After the death of his wife, Carson Drew (played by Sam Trammell) moves from Chicago to the bucolic small city of River Heights. But Nancy Drew can find mysteries anywhere. She hears that a nearby house might be haunted by ghosts. Nancy Drew investigates and finds…

The key to this kind of movie is the actress who plays Nancy Drew. In this case, I found Sophia Lillis brings a high level of believability blended with curiosity. She’s spunky and clever. The target audience of teenagers will enjoy this movie. And, older fans of Nancy Drew who would like to be teenagers again will also find fun watching Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase.” Are you a fan of Nancy Drew? GRADE: B+

Henry Kuttner led the year with three excellent stories. Murray Leinster’s classic “First Contact” still conveys that Sense of Wonder upon rereading. Fredric Brown’s “Pi in the Sky” has been a favorite every since I read it decades ago. Australian author A. Bertram Chandler, who would write a popular series of novels set in the Rim Worlds, makes his first THE GREAT SF STORIES appearance with “Giant Killer.” Leigh Brackett wrote a thrilling story with mystery elements in “The Vanishing Venusians.” Astounding Science Fiction magazine still dominated the SF genre. I really enjoyed this anthology! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Martin H. Greenberg and Isaac Asimov 3
“The Waveries” by Fredric Brown (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, January 1945) 13
“The Piper’s Son” by Lewis Padgett (aka, Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore) (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1945) 37
“Wanted—An Enemy” by Fritz Leiber (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1945) 65
“Blind Alley” by Isaac Asimov (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, March 1945) 80
“Correspondence Course” by Raymond F. Jones (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, April 1945) 105
“First Contact” by Murray Leinster (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1945) 126
“The Vanishing Venusians” by Leigh Brackett (PLANET STORIES, Spring 1945) 159
“Into Thy Hands” by Lester del Rey (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, August 1945) 189
“Camouflage” by Henry Kuttner (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, September 1945) 211
“The Power” by Murray Leinster (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, September 1945) 246
“Giant Killer” by A. Bertram Chandler (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, October 1945) 264
“What You Need” by Henry Kuttner (made into an episode of TV series The Twilight Zone with the same title) (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, October 1945) 313
“De Profundis” by Murray Leinster (THRILLING WONDER STORIES, Winter 1945) 329
“Pi in the Sky” by Fredric Brown (THRILLING WONDER STORIES, Winter 1945) 342

Cliff Sims, former Special Assistant to the President, worked in the hellhole that is the Trump White House for a year and a half–an eternity by current Trump HR standards. Sims writes, “Lincoln famously had his Team of Rivals. Trump had his Team of Vipers. We served. We fought. We brought our egos. We brought out personal agendas and vendettas. We were ruthless. And some of us, I assume, were good people.”

This is another insider’s story of Life inside the Trump White House with its daily chaos, treachery, and deceit. I found it sad and depressing. So much time and energy is being wasted with one clique warring against another clique in the West Wing. Staff pursues personal interests and ignore growing national problems. Meanwhile, the country–and the world–seems to be spiraling out of control. American leadership in International Affairs is nowhere to be found. Terrorists and crazies are emboldened by the Power Vacuum. From the grim picture of the Trump White House that Cliff Sims presents, we’ll be cleaning up this mess for decades. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
AUTHOR’S NOTE xiii
Introduction: Election Night xiii
1. Slow Climb Aboard the Trump Train 1
2. The Deplorables 15
3. Fight or Flight 33
4. Size Matters 51
5. Early Days in the “Dump” 67
6. Twenty-one Days on Top of the World 91
7. The Professionals 107
8. Killers 126
9. The Mooch Is Loose 147
10. Better Angels 178
11. A Tale of Two Generals 204
12. Cut Cut Cut 227
13. Frenemies of the People 358
14. Black Eyes and Broken Glass 283
15. Disposable 307
Epilogue: Outside the Bubble 339
Acknowledgements 345
Index 347

With Superman “dead,” four contenders for the Protector of Metropolis appear: unflappable Eradicator, annoying Superboy, hammer-wielding Steel, and super smart Cyborg Superman. And, of course, Lex Luthor lurks in the background. Battles between these super beings are a delight to watch! What secrets do they hide? In addition to the 87-minute animated movie, this Blu-ray edition includes Lex Luthor: The Greatest Nemsis, two Bonus Cartoons from the DC Comics Vault, and a “sneak peak” at DC’s next animated adventure: Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five. GRADE: B+

I’m a big fan of Kate Beckinsale, but she made a Bad Decision to get involved with The Widow. Kate Beckinsale plays a widow whose husband supposedly died in a plane crash in the Congo. But, Kate thinks she sees her husband in a scene of news footage on TV. She decides to fly to Africa to look for him. Then she goes into the jungle!

On top of the unlikely events in this series, the storyline jumps around a lot. I was able to follow the plot, but it seemed fractured and unnecessarily confusing at times. My advice is to forget about watching this mess and watch Kate Beckinsale in a vastly better AMAZON PRIME Video production, Love and Friendship (you can read my review here), based on Jane Austen’s Lady Susan. The Widow is eight episodes of video filler. GRADE: D

Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee’s Young Adult adventure novel, introduces us to a 13-year-old girl with “powers.” Min, a resident of a back-water planet named Jinju, idolizes her brother Jun who joined the Space Forces. When Jun is reported “missing,” Min uses her powers to sneak aboard the battle cruiser her brother had been serving on, Pale Lightning. On board the warship, Min discovers plenty of suspicious activity. The Captain is searching for the Dragon Pearl, a powerful device that can terraform a planet…or reduce it to dust.

Consider Dragon Pearl a mashup of the Indiana Jones movies and Star Wars. There’s plenty of action. Min makes many mistakes, but shows how determined she is to find her missing brother. Mixing magic and SF might annoy some readers, but I found the entire adventure entertaining and fun. GRADE: B

I said goodbye to happiness as soon as I saw this new Chaka Khan had only seven songs–a mere 27 minutes of music. I violated one of my Rules of Buying Music CDs: “Always listen to the online samples of the music before you buy.” I read the The Wall Street Journal and New York Times interviews (not reviews!) with Chaka Khan. Hello Happiness is Chaka Khan’s first CD in 12 years. She’s been through bankruptcy and personal travails. I impulsively ordered her new CD.

Big Mistake!

The “music” on this CD is bland and meandering. This is a CD I will never listen to again. Don’t waste your time or money on this failure. If you want to listen to great Chaka Khan music, try The Essential Chaka Khan instead. GRADE: F
TRACK LIST:
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. “Hello Happiness”
Yvette StevensDavid TaylorSarah Ruba TaylorThomas GillSamuel Wilkes SwitchSarah Ruba 3:56
2. “Like a Lady”
StevensD. TaylorS. TaylorSanford LivingstonAmy StroupTroydon MurisonLincoln Cleary LivingstonSwitchRubaMurison[b] 5:00
3. “Don’t Cha Know”
StevensD. TaylorS. TaylorGillEli Winderman SwitchRubaChaka Khan[a]Murison[a] 3:18
4. “Too Hot”
StevensD. TaylorS. TaylorAndrea FratangeloMurisonClearyEddie Lee Langolis BotSwitchRubaKhan[a] 3:45
5. “Like Sugar”
StevensD. TaylorS. TaylorWilliam CurtisJohn Flippin SwitchRuba 3:59
6. “Isn’t That Enough”
StevensD. TaylorS. Taylor SwitchRubaMurison[b] 3:31
7. “Ladylike”
StevensD. TaylorS. TaylorStroupRicardo RouseLivingston SwitchRubaMurison[b] 3:45
Total length: 27:14

Captain Marvel is good…but not marvelous. Brie Larson plays a complicated role as a warrior trained by the alien civilization called the Kree who are led by an AI, “Supreme Intelligence.” On a space mission gone wrong, Brie Larson finds herself stranded in 1990s America, hunted by the shape-shifting Skrulls. Larson pairs up with a digitally youthful Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Together, Larson and Fury try to unravel the mysteries of the Skrulls and the Kree…and Larson’s past.

Part of the problem with Captain Marvel centers around all the backstory. And the lies both the Skrulls and the Kree tell Larson. It takes a lot of time to unsort the falsehoods and unpack the Truth. Once Larson finally uses her awesome powers, the movie kicks into overdrive. I liked Brie Larson’s performance, but wish she had a better (and funnier) script to work with. Samuel L. Jackson might be digitally “younger” but every time he has to run, he shows his true age. I liked Ben Mendelsohn’s ironic performance as Talos, leader of the Skrulls. You’ll enjoy the “cat” named Goose. All in all, a fun movie! GRADE: B+