Every Summer, there seems to be a song that captures the spirit of the season. A few years ago Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” could be heard on the sun-kissed streets of Western New York. A couple years ago, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” dominated the airwaves and downloads. I suppose it started back in 1966 with the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City.”

My nomination for Summer Song 2017 is “Yes” by Sam Feldt featuring Akon. Happy, bouncy, merry music! Do you have a favorite Summer Song?

Shakespeare vs. Cthulhu is a Kickstarter project that gets some things Right and some things Wrong. My favorite stories in this uneven anthology blend elements from Shakespeare’s plays and some Lovecraftean menace. I liked “Once More Unto the Breach” by C. L. Werner that features Henry V at Agincourt. Henry is vastly outnumbered by the French forces, but the appearance of one of Cthulhu’s minions changes everything. Guy Haley’s “A Reckoning” reveals the dark bargain between the Lovecraftean dwellers of the sea and evil humans. James Lovegrove’s “Exit, Pursed By…?” captures some of the style of Lovecraft in his tale. The best realization of Shakespeare as a character can be found in Josh Reynolds’s “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide.” The other stories either didn’t capture the essence of Lovecraft or Shakespeare. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: That Way Madness Lies, by Mr Jonathan Green 1
Prologue: Star-Crossed, by Mr Jonathan Oliver 3
Act One
A Madness Most Discreet, by Mr Michael Carroll 33
Something Rotten, by Mr Adrian Tchaikovsky 57
Once More Unto the Breach, by Mr C L Werner 69
A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide, by Mr Josh Reynolds 93
Interlude: What Dreams May Come, by Mistress Nimue Brown 117
Act Two
The Ia’s of March, by Mr Andrew Lane 121
The Undiscovered Country, by Mr Ian Edginton 147
The Suns of York, by Mr Adrian Chamberlin 161
A Reckoning, by Mr Guy Haley 191
Interlude: The Green-Ey’d Monster, by Mistress Danie Ware 215
Act Three
Exit, pursued by…?, by Mr James Lovegrove 219
The King in Yellow Stockings, by Mr Ed Fortune 245
The Terrors of the Earth, by Mr Pat Kelleher 251
Exeunt, by Mr John Reppion 277
Epilogue: Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Mr Graham McNeill 303
Curtain: #Tempest, by Mistress Jan Siegel 331
Dramatis Personae
About the Authors
About the Illustrators
About the Editor
Acknowledgements
Kickstarter Backers

This set of The Killers includes two movie versions of Ernest Hemingway’s famous short story. Robert Siodmak’s 1946 version of The Killers features Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and William Conrad. Woody Bredell’s luminous black & white cinematography accentuates the starkness of this bleak film.

Don Siegel’s 1964 film was made for television. I love the cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes…and Ronald Reagan! This new Criterion Collection edition looks great on a 4K HDTV! If you’re in the mood for noir, here are two excellent versions of Hemingway’s noirish short story. Do you have a favorite work by Ernest Hemingway? GRADE: A (for both)

Judith Newman struggles to raise her autistic son, Gus. Then, one day while Judith is talking on iPhone, Gus asks her a question (he asks his mother a lot of questions!) and Siri thinks the question is directed at her so she answers it. Suddenly, Judith realizes Siri could help her with Gus. To Siri With Love shows how technology can assist with children and adults with autism. This book is based on an article Judith Newman wrote for the New York Times and the article became one of the most popular on the paper’s web site. Judith then expanded the article into this slim book. I found Judith, her twin sons, and her husband all very quirky people. But I admire how they’ve all worked together to raise a child with autism. Informative and inspiring! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Author’s Note ix
Introduction xiii
one | OH NO 1
two | WHY? 17
three | AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN 29
four | I. TUNES 47
five | VROOM 63
six | BLUSH 79
seven | GO 91
eight | DOC 109
nine | SNORE 121
ten | TO SIRI WITH LOVE 131
eleven | WORK IT 143
twelve | CHUMS 157
thirteen | GETTING SOME 173
fourteen | TOAST 191
fifteen | BYE 203
Acknowledgements 217
Resource List 223

Surprisingly, the Buffalo Bills are 9 1/2 point favorites over the New York Jets. What a wild and weird Off Season the Buffalo Bills experienced! Head Coach Rex Ryan was fired after last season’s debacles. New Head Coach, Sean McDermott, former Defensive Coordinator with the Carolina Panthers, contends with personnel problems. New General Manager, Brandon Beane (also from the Carolina Panthers), traded away the Bills’s best player, often injured Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins. Beane also traded the Bills’s best cornerback, Ronald Darby, to the Eagles for a wide receiver who was injured in his first Bills practice. Bad Luck continues to dog the Bills.

In the Third Preseason Game, two of the three Bills Quarterbacks got concussions. Today, which QB will start against the Jets depends on where the players are in their Concussion Protocols. How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

This 2016 Smithsonian Channel documentary chronicles two projects: rebuilding the bridge of the original Enterprise and restoring the original USS Enterprise model. Most of the Star Trek props and sets were thrown in the dumpster when the series folded after three seasons. Tracking down an original phaser and a tricorder take suspenseful twists. Rebuilding the original model of the Enterprise at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum presents even more challenges. Astronauts, engineers, writers, and some Star Trek stars lie Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura) and Simon Pegg (Scotty in the Star Trek reboot). If you’re a Trekkie, you’ll enjoy this. What’s your favorite Star Trek episode? GRADE: B+

“Hercule Poirot meets Fox Mulder in these 19 pulpy tales from 1929-30, the second of five volumes reprinting the complete adventures of occult sleuth Dr. Jules de Grandin.” This quote is from the Kirkus review that captures the essence of Seabury Quinn’s stories. If taken in moderation, these tales can be fun reading. They follow a similar template so reading too many of these stories at one time can become tedious. I recommend one Dr. Jules de Grandin story per week. Night Shade Books is doing a fine job reprinting this series in chronological order. The hardcover editions are sturdy and well-made. And priced right! Many small presses reprint pulp tales and charge exorbitant prices ($100 and up!) while AMAZON is selling this edition for $22.35 (a bargain for a book of this quality!). If you’re in the mood for some spooky stories, you’ll find them in The Devil’s Rosary. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction-George A. Vanderburgh and Robert E. Weinberg
“Loved by Thousands of Readers”: The Popularity of Jules de Grandin-Stefan Dziemianowicz
1929
The Black Master (Weird Tales, January 1929)
The Devil People (Weird Tales, February 1929)
The Devil’s Rosary (Weird Tales, April 1929)
The House of Golden Masks (Weird Tales, June 1929)
The Corpse Master (Weird Tales, July 1929)
Trespassing Souls (Weird Tales, September 1929)
The Silver Countess (Weird Tales, October 1929)
The House Without a Mirror (Weird Tales, November 1929)
Children of Ubasti (Weird Tales, December 1929)
1930
The Curse of the House of Phipps (Weird Tales, January 1930)
The Drums of Damballah (Weird Tales, March 1930)
The Dust of Egypt (Weird Tales, April 1930)
The Brain-Thief (Weird Tales, May 1930)
The Priestess of the Ivory Feet (Weird Tales, June 1930)
The Bride of Dewer (Weird Tales, July 1930)
Daughter of the Moonlight (Weird Tales, August 1930)
The Druid’s Shadow (Weird Tales, October 1930)
Stealthy Death (Weird Tales, November 1930)
The Wolf of St. Bonnot (Weird Tales, December 1930)

According to the latest QUEST newsletter on prostate cancer, two studies produced some interesting findings:

1. According to a study in Urology (Oct. 2016 issue) men with a PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) score of 1.5 or less have a low risk of developing clinically significant cancer within 5 years.

2. A four year study of 4,000 men found that men who drank more than three cups of coffee per day lowered their risk of prostate cancer by 53%.

My father had prostate cancer (and had it surgically removed) so my urologists monitor my PSA results closely. My most recent PSA score was 1.1 and although I’ve had people roll their eyes when I tell them I drank 10 cups of coffee a day for years (I’ve tapered off to 6-7 cups since I retired), I’ve always believed coffee had health benefits even though it was demonized in recent years. Do you drink coffee?

Bruce Handy explores the appeal of Children’s Literature in Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature As An Adult. My favorite chapters are the ones on Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon which originally was titled Goodnight Room), Beatrix Potter, Dr. Seuss, and Beverly Cleary (the Ramona series). Wild Things is not a comprehensive survey of children’s books, but it does a nice job identifying great books and what makes them great. After finishing Wild Things I wanted to drop everything and read a Ramona book! What were your favorite books when you were a kid? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction xii
1. New Eyes, New Ears: Margaret Wise Brown and Goodnight Moon 1
2. Runaways: Family Drama in Picture Books–and Well Beyond 25
3. Once Upon a Time and In and Out of Weeks: Fairy Tales and Maurice Sendak 43
4. Why a Duck? The Uses of Talking Animals from Aesop to Beatrix Potter to Olivia the Pig 77
5. You Have to Know: Dr. Seuss vs. Dick and Jane 107
6. Kids Being Kids: Ramona Quimby, American Pest 139
7. God and Man in Narnia 161
8. One Nation: Washington’s Cherry Tree, Rosa Parkes’s Bus, and Oz 183
9. Going on Seventeen (Or Not): Little Women, Little Houses, and Peter Pans 205
10. The End: Dead Pets, Dead Grandparents, and the Glory of Everything 239
Afterward 263
Acknowledgements 267
Appendix 271
Bibliography 279
Index 289

Melissa Rauch (“Bernadette” on The Big Bang Theory) voices a feisty Harley Quinn in the new DC Animated Movie. Poison Ivy and Floronic Man (aka, Jason Woodrue) have teamed up to alter the Earth forever. Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Nightwing (Loren Lester) turn to a “reformed” Harley Quinn to help them track down Poison Ivy. There’s some silly stuff in a gangster bar and some other surprises in this entertaining adventure. If you’re a Batman and/or Harley Quinn fan, you’ll want to see this. GRADE: B+
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Harley Effect
Loren Lester: In His Own Voice
A Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie: Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
2 Bonus Cartoons