To help you with your Holliday gift shopping, I’m devoting this week to making suggestions for those hard-to-buy-for people on your List. This handy volume reprints the DC Comics 5-story arc. I’m hoping Titan Books reprints all the Ms. Tree adventures that ran from 1981 to 1993, printed by various publishers. Ms. Tree, a tough private eye with a talent for dealing with trouble, holds up after almost 40 years. Only $18.49 on AMAZON! GRADE: A

The 9-4 Buffalo Bills need a win tonight over the 8-5 Pittsburgh Steelers to punch their ticket to the Playoffs. Win, and they’re in. But the Steelers are 28-7 in night games since 2006. The Bills are 1-point underdogs. How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

Jumanji: The Next Level brings the cast of the 2017 surprise hit, Jumanji (you can read my review here), back together for another bizarre adventure in an old video game. Yes, the cast is expanded by Danny Glover and Danny DeVito who frankly add nothing to the mix. The previous Jumanji had more humor and more surprises. This sequel creaks along until the team–Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black–start swapping bodies. Silly, but funny. The strong hint that another Jumanji movie might appear in a year or two doesn’t thrill me if it’s as mediocre as Jumanji: The Next Level. Save your time and money and skip this one. GRADE: C+

The Great SF stories #17 (1955) features two genuine classic stories: Cordwainer Smith’s “The Game of Rat and Dragon” and Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s “The Darfsteller.” “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke borders on classic status. I was impressed by James H. Schmitz’s “Grandpa,” a ecological puzzle story. Philip K. Dick’s “Captive Market” and Erie Frank Russell’s “Allamagoosa” delighted me upon rereading. Once again, Theodore Sturgeon shows why he’s one of the great SF short story writers with “Who?” This is another excellent volume in an important series. Are any of these stories favorites of yours? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION By Martin H. Greenberg 9
“The Tunnel Under the World” by Frederik Pohl (GALAXY, January 1955) 13
“The Darfsteller” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, January 1955) 56
“The Cave of Night” by James E. Gunn (GALAXY, February 1955) 112
“Grandpa” by James H. Schmitz (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1955) 130
“Who?” by Theodore Sturgeon (GALAXY, March 1955) 153
“The Short Ones” by Raymond E. Banks (THE MAGAZINES OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, March 1955) 187
“Captive Market” by Philip K. Dick (IF, April 1955) 209
“Allamagoosa” by Eric Frank Russell (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1955) 228
“The Vanishing American” by Charles Beaumont (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, August 1955) 243
“The Game of Rat and Dragon” by Cordwainer Smith (GALAXY, October 1955) 253
“The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke (INFINITY SCIENCE FICTION, November 1955) 270
“Nobody Bothers Gus” by Algis Budrys (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, November 1955) 277
“Delenda Est” by Poul Anderson (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, December 1955) 292
“Dreaming Is a Private Thing” by Isaac Asimov (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, December 1955) 333

Whenever I travel, I always take a Jack Reacher novel with me. I find Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books easy to read on a trip, involving, and real page-turners. I decided to read the Jack Reacher series in “Chronological” order, not in the order the books were published. Lee Child has published a few “prequels” to the series–a strategy I’m guessing Child will resort to again.

The Enemy introduces Jack Reacher as a Major in the Military Police. Reacher investigates the death of a General and that leads to a conspiracy. Night School brings Reacher onto a team that’s investigating possible terrorist plots. You can get more details here. Bill Crider makes some funny observations about The Affair (you can read them here). Reacher is sent to investigate the dead of three women in a small town outside a military base. Could someone at the base be the killer?

The first Jack Reacher novel in publishing order is Killing Floor. In the edition I read, Lee Child provides a retrospective on how Jack Reacher came to be and how he decided the kind of books he wanted to write. Jack Reacher gets arrested at the beginning of the book while eating breakfast in a little Southern town. What Reacher discovers has international dimensions. Reacher untangles the bizarre plot and extracts vengeance from the Bad Guys in an explosive conclusion. I’ll continue reading Jack Reacher novels in this order throughout 2020. GRADE: B (for all four books)
JACK REACHER SERIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
The Enemy (2004) Prequel set eight years before Killing Floor
Night School (2016) Prequel set when Reacher is 35
The Affair (2011) This is another prequel set just before Killing Floor
Killing Floor (1997)
Die Trying (1998)
Tripwire (1999)
Running Blind (2000) UK Title: “The Visitor”
Echo Burning (2001)
Without Fail (2002)
Persuader (2003)
One Shot (2005)
The Hard Way (2006)
Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
Nothing to Lose (2008)
Gone Tomorrow (2009)
61 Hours (Spring 2010)
Worth Dying For (Fall 2010)
A Wanted Man (2012)
Never Go Back (2013)
Personal (2014)
Make Me (2015)
No Middle Name (2017) Collection of 12 short stories
The Midnight Line (2017)
Past Tense (2018)
Blue Moon (2019)

R. J. Ivankovic presents the cosmic horror of Cthulhu for young people (and those young at heart) in his entertaining H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu (for beginning readers) (2017). Mimicking Dr. Seuss, Ivankovic imitates the drawing style and the rimes of those classic children’s books like The Cat in the Hat. Ivankovic follows the iconic Lovecraft story and manages to infuse the pages of his innovative book with dread.

I found the whole experience of reading H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu (for beginning readers) entertaining and fun! Are you a fan of Lovecraft and Cthulhu? GRADE: A

I’m a big fan of Peter White, the Smooth Jazz guitarist and record producer. White’s Christmas Concert featured plenty of fun music and three guests: saxophonist Euge Groove, singer Lindsey Webster, and multi-talented Vincent Ingala (sax, guitar, and bells). I had no idea Peter White wrote “Wonderful Christmastime,” a popular Holiday song. If Peter White and his crew shows up in your neighborhood, I recommend you buy some tickets to one of the better Christmas shows around. Do you have a favorite Holiday song? GRADE: A

SET LIST:
The Little Drummer Boy
(The Trapp Family Singers cover) (with Lindsey Webster & Euge Groove)

O Tannenbaum
(with Lindsey Webster & Euge Groove)

This Christmas
(Donny Hathaway cover) (with Euge Groove)

Home for the Holidays
(Perry Como cover) (with Vincent Ingala)

Christmastime Is Here
(Vince Guaraldi Trio cover) (with Euge Groove)

Wonderful Christmastime
(Paul McCartney cover) (with Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

O Christmas Tree
(with Vincent Angala & Euge Groove)

Jingle Bell Rock
(Bobby Helms cover) (with & Euge Groove)

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
(Brenda Lee cover) (with Lindsey Webster & Euge Groove)

Run Rudolph Run
(Chuck Berry cover) (with Vincent Angala & Euge Groove)

Jingle Bells
(James Lord Pierpont cover) (with Lindsey Webster)

Go Tell It On the Mountain
(with Vincent Angala & Euge Groove)

White Christmas
(Irving Berlin cover) (with Lindsey Webster, Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove; sung acapella)

Silent Night
(Joseph Mohr & Franz Gruber cover) (with Euge Groove)

Sleigh Ride
(with Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)
(Mel Tormé cover) (with Euge Groove)

INTERMISSION
Blue Christmas
(Doye O’Dell cover) (with Euge Groove)

Livin’ Large
(Euge Groove cover) (with Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

Bueno Funk / Get Up, Stand Up / Bueno Funk
(with Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

Grazing in the Grass / Chinese Dance from “The Nutcracker Suite” / Groovin’ / Just My Imagination / Shotgun / Grazing in the Grass (reprise)
(with Lindsey Webster, Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town / Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
(with Lindsey Webster, Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

ENCORE
So This Is Christas/Oh, Holy Night
(John Lennon cover) (with Lindsey Webster, Vincent Ingala & Euge Groove)

Henry Hitching’s The Language Wars (2011) provides an entertaining history of development of the English Language. Yes, Shakespeare had a big impact on the English Language, but so did Dr. Johnson and Thomas Hobbes. Hitching’s examples of various handbooks and dictionaries show how change in language occurs. My favorite example concerns Webster’s Third dictionary:

“In Rex Stout’s 1962 detective novel Gambit the hero, Nero Wolfe, feeds the pages of this ‘intolerably offensive’ work into a fire. The reason for this topical gesture? Webster’s Third fails to uphold the distinction between imply and infer. Since the two volumes comprised more than 2,700 pages and cost $47.50, Wolf’s was an expensive and time-consuming expression of disgust.” (p. 232)

If you’re interested in England Language history and development, Henry Hitching’s The Language Wars both enlightens and amuses. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1 ‘To boldly go’ p. 1
2 The survival machine p. 15
3 The emergence of English p. 26
4 From Queen Elizabeth to John Locke p. 37
5 Hitting le jackpot p. 51
6 The rough magic of English spelling p. 61
7 The many advantages of a good language p. 76
8 ‘Bishop Lowth was a fool’ p. 88
9 O my America, my new found land! p. 104
10 The long shadow of Lindley Murray p. 122
11 The pedigree of nations p. 133
12 Of fish-knives and fist-fucks p. 143
13 ‘Our blood, our language, our institutions’ p. 161
14 Organizing the Victorian treasure-house p. 170
15 The warden of English p. 182
16 ‘Speak that I may see thee’ p. 191
17 Talking proper p. 203
18 The alphabet and the goddess p. 215
19 Modern life is rubbish p. 227
20 Unholy shit p. 237
21 ‘It’s English-Only here’ p. 252
22 The comma flaps its wings p. 261
23 Flaunting the rules p. 270
24 Technology says ‘whatever’ p. 290
25 ‘Conquer English to Make China Strong’ p. 300
26 What do we do with the flowing face of nature? p. 310
27 Such, such are the joys p. 321
28 Envoi p. 333
Acknowledgements p. 337
Notes p. 339
Bibliography of works consulted p. 365
Index p. 391

The surprising 9-3 Buffalo Bills take on the mighty 10-2 Baltimore Ravens today. The Ravens have won 8 straight games. The Bills are 6-point underdogs at home. The weather will be balmy for December in Buffalo: 45 and sunny. There might be a bit of a wind problem, however. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Rian Johnson wrote and directed this classic whodunit mystery movie. Johnson admits he’s a huge fan of Agatha Christie so Knives Out can be considered a homage to Hercule Poirot–with a Southern twist. Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, a quirky master detective with a Southern accent. Blanc is hired by an anonymous client to investigate the death of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), a wildly rich and successful mystery writer. Thrombey’s greedy family all show up for the reading of his will. That scene sets off the action for the rest of the movie. Thrombey’s real-estate daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her straying husband Richard (Don Johnson) have plenty of motive. Thrombey’s son, Walt (Michael Shannon), faces losing his publishing income from his father’s books. Thrombey’s younger daughter, Joni (Toni Collette), and Thrombey’s wayward grandson, Ransom (Chris Evans) must deal with the prospect that the monthly checks will disappear.

I particularly liked the performance of Ana de Armas who plays Marta, Harlan Thrombey’s good-hearted nurse. Marta almost always tells the truth, but when she tells a lie…she pukes! Very funny and cunning. If you’re looking for a movie in the tradition of Murder On the Orient Express and Death On the Nile, you’ll find delight with Knives Out. GRADE: A-