I took Katie for ballet and dance lessons for years so I’m familiar with the setting of Megan Abbott’s The Turnout. Dara and Marie Durant run The Durant School of Dance. Dara and Marie were trained by their demanding mother. When their parents die in a car accident, Dara and Marie decide to run the dance school with Dara’s husband, Charlie.

Marie teaches the little kids. Dara, demanding like her mother and more talented, teaches the older students. Charlie, who used to be their mother’s best student, is now dealing with crippling injuries from his years of dancing. Charlie handles the scheduling, paperwork, and the bill paying/business aspects of the dance school.

After a fire damages one of the dance studios, Dara, Marie, and Charlie agree to hire Derek, a contractor, to repair the damage. Derek reminds me of the cunning stalker in John D. MacDonald’s Cape Fear (aka, The Executioners), Max Cady. Derek slowly starts to dominate Marie and enrages Dara as the annual performance of The Nutcracker looms. Derek’s presence triggers a series incidents full of growing dread.

The Turnout shows how secrets slowly fester and suddenly blossom into terror. Of all of Megan Abbott’s books, The Turnout is my favorite. GRADE: A

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills take on Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers at balmy Highmark Stadium today. The temperature is supposed to be in the mid-70s with a stiff breeze. The game is a sell-out so 65,000+ screaming fans will be in attendance. The Bills are 6 1/2 point favorites. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Where were you at 8:45 A.M. on September 11, 2001? What do you remember about that day?

The movie version of Come From Away, the musical about the flights diverted to Newfoundland because of 9/11, is available on Apple TV. Wonderful! GRADE: A

I’ve had Josephine Tey’s mysteries on my shelves for decades. Last week I decided to read one of Tey’s books and I chose The Daughter of Time (1951). Friends who have read Josephine Tey’s works rave about The Daughter of Time. Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, while recuperating from a broken leg, finds himself drawn to a portrait of Richard III. That fascination leads Grant into investigating the heinous crime Richard III is supposed to be behind: the murder of his brother’s children to protect his crown.

Clearly, investigating a crime hundreds of years old is the coldest of cold cases, but Josephine Tey provides Grant with the help of facts from the British Museum and an American scholar to clarify whether Richard Plantagenet was really behind the killings of the Little Princes in the Tower.

I confess I wasn’t expecting such a suspenseful tale with so much history behind it. After reading The Daughter of Time I wanted to drop everything and watch a performance of Shakespeare’s Richard III! Robert Barnard’s fine “Introduction” provides more insights into the book and the author. GRADE: A

Jeff Meyerson mentioned Carlos Santana’s CD of duets in a comment a few weeks ago. I have a number of Santana CDs scattered throughout my Collection (yes, I’m trying to get more organized!). But, fortunately, I found my copy of ALL THAT I AM and listened to it again.

My favorite song is “I’m Feeling You” with Michelle Branch and The Wreckers with its energy. I also enjoyed Anthony Hamilton on “Twisted.”

Joss Stone and Sean Paul do a nice job with “Cry Baby Cry.” And Santana ends the album with “Da Tu Amor” with some classic Santana guitar riffs. Jeff was right about this album: it’s one of Santana’s best! Are you a fan of Carlos Santana? GRADE: A

Track Listing:

1. “Hermes” – 4:08
   • Written by Carlos Santana and S. Jurad
   • Produced by Carlos Santana
2. “El Fuego” – 4:17
   • Written by Carlos Santana, Jean Shepherd and Richard Shepherd
   • Produced by Carlos Santana
3. “I’m Feeling You” – 4:13
   • Featuring Michelle Branch and The Wreckers
   • Written by Kara DioGuardi, John Shanks and Michelle Branch
   • Produced by John Shanks and Kara DioGuardi
4. “My Man” – 4:37
   • Featuring Big Boi and Mary J. Blige
   • Written by Antwan Patton, Nsilo Reddick, Nicholas Sherwood and Rob Thomas
   • Produced by Big Boi and The Beat Bullies
5. “Just Feel Better” – 4:12
   • Featuring Steven Tyler
   • Written by Jamie Houston, Buck Johnson and Damon Johnson
   • Produced by John Shanks
6. “I Am Somebody” – 4:02
   • Featuring will.i.am
   • Written by will.i.am and George Pajon, Jr.
   • Produced by will.i.am
   • Additional Production Lester Mendez
   • This song is considered by most as a tribute to “I Am – Somebody“, a poem by Reverend Jesse Jackson.
7. “Con Santana” – 3:18
   • Featuring Ismaïla and Sixu Toure, also known as Touré Kunda
   • Written by Carlos Santana, Ismaïla Toure and Tidane “Sixu” Toure
   • Produced by Carlos Santana
8. “Twisted” – 5:11
   • Featuring Anthony Hamilton
   • Written by Dante Ross and Nandi Willis
   • Produced by Dante Ross
9. “Trinity” – 3:33
   • Featuring Kirk Hammett and Robert Randolph
   • Written by Carlos Santana and Michael Brook
   • Produced by Carlos Santana
   • This song is a tribute to the Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and is a cover of his song Tere Bina
10. “Cry Baby Cry” – 3:53
    • Featuring Sean Paul and Joss Stone
    • Written by Lester Mendez, Sean Paul, Kara DioGuardi and Jimmy Harry
    • Produced and Arranged by Lester Mendez
11. “Brown Skin Girl” – 4:44
    • Featuring Bo Bice
    • Written by Jamie Houston
    • Produced by Lester Mendez and Jamie Houston
    • Vocal Arrangement by Jamie Houston
12. “I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love” – 4:00
    • Featuring Los Lonely Boys
    • Written by Henry Garza, Ringo Garza and Joey Garza
    • Produced by Carlos Santana
    • Additional Production by John Proter and Los Lonely Boys
13. “Da Tu Amor” – 4:03
    • Written by Carlos Santana, Andy Vargas, and Gary Glenn
    • Produced by Carlos Santana

Robert Silverberg is one of my favorite Science Fiction writers, but back in 1959 Silverberg started writing for a men’s magazine called Exotic Adventures. Silverberg wrote under a number of pseudonyms and sometimes wrote ALL the stories in an issue of the magazine!

For the first time, these exotic adventure stories have been collected and this volume includes original cover artwork and interior black & white illustrations. It’s wild and wacky and offbeat stuff! Check out the titles below! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

ADVENTUROUS BEGINNINGS, introduction by Robert Deis & Wyatt Doyle

CAMPUS HELLCAT (as David Challon)

SAFARI OF DEATH (as Leon Kaiser)

I WAS A TANGIER’S SMUGGLER (as Donald Gorman)

BRIDE OF THE JAGUAR GOD (as Malcolm Hunt)

NUDIST PARADISE ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA (as Martin Davidson)

TAHITI, LUSTY ISLAND OF UNTAMED WOMEN (as Leonard Colman)

EGYPT’S CITY OF PROSTITUTES (as David F. Killian)

RADIANT JADE: THE CHINESE MATA HARI (as Sam Mallory)

SABA, LAND OF LOVE-STARVED WOMEN (as Len Patterson)

OPIUM DEN IN VIETNAM-adventure (as Lawrence F. Watkins)

ISLAND OF EXILED WOMEN-article (as Lin Charles)

THE ARABIAN SLAVE GIRL RACKET (as Jim Hollister)

A TEMPORARY HUSBAND IN LADAKH (as Karl-Heinz Kirschner)

WOLF CHILDREN OF INDIA (as Ronald Bradman)

I WATCHED THE SECRET SEX RITES OF UGANDA (as Richard Banham)

LOVE HUNGRY GIRLS OF JAPAN (as Nick Thomas)

I ESCAPED FROM THE SOVIET SLAVE CAMP (as Anna Lukacs)

Steve Martin stars as an actor whose last successful TV show was a decade ago. Martin Short plays a Broadway director whose career is stalled and he’s running out of money, and Selena Gomez is a mysterious young woman who knows more than she’s telling. All three characters are bound together by their love of true-crime podcasts. And, when the body of a man is found in their hotel, The Arconia, the three unlikely investigators decide to work together to find the murderer.

HULU released three of the 10 episodes in the Only Murders in the Building series this week. One of the new episodes will be released each Tuesday until the finale on October 19.

It’s a little early to judge the series, but so far Diane and I are enjoying it. It’s a little silly, but that’s not so bad for the terrible times we’re living through. GRADE: Incomplete

WINNER OF THE JAMES BEARD AWARD AND IACP AWARD FOR BEST GENERAL COOKBOOK — One of Epicurious’ Greatest Home Cooks of All Time delivers creative, delicious weeknight dinners with this quick and easy cookbook for beginner cooks and foodies alike. “More than 200 simple weeknight dinners that deliver big weekend flavor in under an hour–with many that take only 25 minutes.”

This is a collection of quick recipes for weeknight dining, inspired by Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television show, including dishes as yakiudon with pickled ginger, pork schnitzel, kale and white bean soup, Indonesian fried tofu salad, and three-cheese pizza. Nice one page directions with beautiful photos to match from the America’s Test Kitchen guy.

You can probably guess what my favorite chapter is! If you’re looking for a no-frills, quick and easy cookbook, this is the one you should go with. Yummy! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — ix

Fast — 1

Faster — 89

Fastest — 173

Easy Additions — 213

Supper Salads — 243

Pizza Night — 277

One Pot — 311

Roast and Simmer — 337

Sweets — 369

INDEX — 394

THE RACONTEUR’S COMMONPLACE BOOK belongs to a genre that goes back to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. A group of strangers are stuck together–in this case they’re in an inn during inclement weather–and they pass the time by sharing stories. But, in this book, the stories are part of a much bigger and ominous story.

I particularly liked “The Game of Maps,” “The Queen of Fog,” and “The Storm Bottle.” Kate Milford weaves all of these stories together to produce a conclusion I did not see coming. If you’re a fan of story-telling with unusual elements, I recommend The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Blue Vein Tavern — 1
The game of maps — 21
The whalebone spring — 57
The devil and the scavenger — 71
The queen of fog — 85
The roamer in the nettles — 105
The hollow-ware man — 131
The coldway — 139
The tavern at night — 177
The blue stair — 193
The storm bottle — 203
The ferryman — 223
The reckoning — 245
The particular — 259
The three kings — 297
The gardener of meteorites — 315
The summons of the bone — 347
The crossroads — 373

A NOTE ABOUT THE CLARION BOOKS EDITION — 385

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 389