Meryl Streep plays a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, Alice Hughes, who is afraid to fly. When she wins an award that’s to be granted in England, Alice finagles a berth on a cruise ship along with accommodations for two of her College friends and her nephew.

The trip to England is filled with Candice Bergen’s character, Roberta, seething about Alice using her life as the key character in Alice’s most popular book.  Susan (Dianne Wiest) is the Voice of Reason as the three friends try to connect again like they did in College.

There’s some publishing shenanigans, some confusion about who the mysterious guy reading The Odyssey is, and a silly romance. All in all, Let Them All Talk is a frothy cruise to nowhere. GRADE: B-

If you’re a fan of Space Art, or if you’re looking for a Holiday gift for someone who has Everything, I highly recommend The Art of NASA. Gorgeous Chestley Bonestell paintings grace the pages of this oversized coffee table book. Very cool sketches of various rockets, illustrations of space craft on the Moon, and dramatic paintings of Space Walks dazzle these pages.

Piers Bizony clearly describes the various NASA missions, writes about the type of artwork commissioned to promote the mission, and how the marketing was used to gain political and public support.

Some of my favorite illustrations capture the various landers planned for Mars and other planets and moons. And I love the details about the artists who created these marvelous, artistic glimpses of the Future! GRADE: A

The Buffalo Bills (9-3) are in Prime Time again–this time on NBC’s Sunday Night Football–taking on the 11-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills are 2-point favorites. The Steelers are playing their third game in 12 days. And, the Steelers are the only NFL team without a Bye Week (that was lost with all the Covid-19 problems with the Ravens) because their games kept being moved around. How will your favorite NFL do today?

Here’s Carrie Vaughn’s take on her character, Kitty Norville: “She’s a werewolf who accidentally starts a talk radio show for the supernaturally disadvantaged.” Vaughn first wrote about Kitty in a short story that was published in a 2001 issue of Weird Tales. Vaughn wrote a few more Kitty short stories and in 2005 published Kitty and The Midnight Hour, her first novel.

Like many first novels, the narrative is a bit herky-jerky. Kitty deals with her sudden success as a radio talk show host for werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. Then, of course, someone is trying to kill Kitty. And Kitty is rebelling–as most young werewolves do–against her Pack leader, Carl.

This Urban Fantasy novel has a mystery and some drama. Some romance and suspense. But the character of Kitty, a young woman struggling to adapt to her new condition and to stand up for herself, powers this novel. And I suspect the entire series. GRADE: B

KITTY NORVILLE SERIES:
   1. Kitty and the Midnight Hour (2005)
   2. Kitty Goes to Washington (2006)
   3. Kitty Takes a Holiday (2007)
     aka Kitty Goes on Holiday
   4. Kitty and the Silver Bullet (2007)
   5. Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (2009)
   6. Kitty Raises Hell (2009)
   7. Kitty’s House of Horrors (2009)
   8. Kitty Goes to War (2010)
   9. Kitty’s Big Trouble (2011)
   10. Kitty Steals the Show (2012)
   11. Kitty Rocks the House (2013)
   12. Kitty in the Underworld (2013)
   13. Low Midnight (2014)
   14. Kitty Saves the World (2015)
   15. The Immortal Conquistador (2020)
   16. Kitty’s Mix-tape (2020)
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011)
The Aracane Art of Misdirection (2012) (in Hex Appeal)
Paranormal Bromance (2014)

I first read these John Flagg (aka, John Rex Gearon) spy novels in the 1960s. At the time, I would read any book published by Gold Medal which featured original paperbacks by John D. MacDonald, Lionel White, Sax Rohmer, Charles Williams, Richard S. Prather, and Marijane Meaker (under the pseudonym of “Vin Packer”).

I liked the John Flagg books, featuring soldier-of-fortune Hart Muldoon, because Flagg created exotic locales for his spy. In Woman of Cairo the dangerous alleys of Egypt, in Dear, Deadly Beloved Flagg plunges Muldoon into the corruption of the vacation isle of Venzola where the Rich play cruel games for mountains of cash.

According to Nicolas Litchfield’s insightful Introduction, John Flagg’s The Persian Cat (1950) was the first book Gold Medal published. He went on to publish three more Hart Muldoon spy novels, all with Gold Medal. If you’re looking for fast-paced espionage novels with beautiful women, deadly killers, and treachery on every page, Woman of Cairo/Dear, Deadly Beloved will tangle you up in their sinister plots. GRADE: B (for both books)

THE HART MULDOON SERIES:

Woman of Cairo (1953)

Dear, Deadly Beloved (1954)

Murder in Monaco (1957)

Death’s Lovely Mask (1958)

The Paradise Gun (1961)

Bob Dylan, 79 years old, just sold his catalog of 600 songs to Universal Music for a reported $300 million. Last week, Stevie Nicks sold her song catalog for $100 million to Primary Wave. What’s going on? Well, some artists have died without a Will and left their work in the hands of the Courts. Most of James Brown’s millions have been eaten up by legal fees as family and “friends” sue for a piece of his estate. The same situation occurs for Prince’s estate and Michael Jackson’s, too. Walter Becker, half of STEELY DAN, died without a Will and his partner, Donald Fagan, complained bitterly at the last STEELY DAN concert we attended, that the business problems and cash flow interruptions resulting from the lack of a Will and Partnership Agreement forced him to tour to pay his bills.

It’s smart to cash in your chips before disaster strikes. Here is one of my favorite Dylan collections (3 CDs) from Columbia which came out in 1985. Are you a Dylan fan? Do you have a favorite song? GRADE: A

Tracklist:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I’m a big fan of Otto Penzler’s Big Book series (you can read my reviews of The Big Book of Rogues here, The Big Book of Ghost Stories here, The Big Book of Female Detectives here, and The Big Book of Adventure Stories here). If you have a fan of spy fiction, The Big Book of Espionage would make a wonderful gift.

All the Big Names of spy fiction are here: Ian Fleming, Charles McCarry, Eric Ambler, and John Buchan. But there are plenty of excellent writers who produced wonderful spy fiction, too. I liked “The Spy Who Clutched a Playing Card” by Edward D. Hoch. And James Grady’s “Condor in the Stacks.” And, who knew Sara Paretsky wrote spy fiction?

If you like spy stories, The Big Book of Espionage is a must-buy. If you’re looking for a gift for a friend who loves suspenseful short stories, this book is your answer. Are you a fan of spy fiction? GRADE: A

During a ghost-hunting party, a womanizing Midsomer furniture maker gets stabbed to death with a Victorian sword. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby investigates with the help of his new assistant, Detective Sargent Charlie Nelson. During another paranormal party, another murder results with Nelson nearby. DCI Barnaby has plenty of suspects and motives involved in the murders.

Are you a fan of Midsomer Murders? GRADE: B+

The Buffalo Bills have lost eight Monday Night Football games in a row. The last time the Bills won on Monday Night Football was in 1999 when they beat the Miami Dolphins 23-18 (Doug Flutie was the quarterback). Early last week, the Vegas odds makers had the Bills as a 2 1/2 point favorite. As the week went on, the line changed until now the Bills are 1-point underdogs.

I’m hoping the Bills can break their Monday Night Football losing streak tonight!

The Buffalo Bills take on the San Francisco 49ers tomorrow night in Arizona. The 49ers are favored by 1 point. Meanwhile, as the Covid-19 numbers continue to rise, the NFL rejected the “bubble” strategy for the Playoffs that worked well for the NBA and MLB. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?