Just in time for that bibliophile on your Holiday Gift List comes Keith Houston’s wonderful The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time. Houston’s new book explores the history of the development of the book. I had no idea that Johannes Gutenberg was cheated out of his invention of movable type printing. And I had no idea that an out-of-work actor named Ira Rubel invented the lithographic press. Houston provides dozens of fascinating stories about the development of the modern book. If you love books as much as I do, you’ll love The Book! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Part 1. The page
A clean sheet : the invention of papyrus
Hidebound : the grisly invention of parchment
Pulp fictions : the ambiguous origins of paper in China
From Silk Road to paper trail : paper goes global
Part 2. The text
Stroke of genius : the arrival of writing
The prints and the pauper : Johannes Gutenberg and the invention of movable type
Out of sorts : typesetting meets the industrial revolution
Part 3. Illustrations
Saints and scriveners : the rise of the illuminated manuscript
Ex Oriente lux : woodcut comes to the West
Etching a sketch : copperplate printing and the Renaissance
Better imaging through chemistry : lithography, photography, and modern book printing
Part 4. Form
Books before the book : papyrus scrolls and wax tablets
Joining the folds : the invention of the codex
Ties that bind : binding the paged book
Size matters : the invention of the modern book.
Colophon
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Notes
Illustration Credits
Index

If you’re a Ross Macdonald fan, IT’S ALL ONE CASE: THE ILLUSTRATED ROSS MACDONALD ARCHIVES is a must-buy. Paul Nelson and Kevin Avery and Jeff Wong assembled a detailed survey of Ross Macdonald’s work with photos, book jackets, interviews, and analysis. This is the complete package! Everything you ever wanted to know about Ross Macdonald and his works is here! Jerome Charyn’s incisive “Foreword” puts Ross Macdonald into perspective. You will not find a better tribute to this great writer. IT’S ALL ONE CASE: THE ILLUSTRATED ROSS MACDONALD ARCHIVES should be in every mystery reader’s library! GRADE: A+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword by Jerome Charyn
Introduction
Ross Macdonald Bibiliography
1. Beginnings
2. First Works
3. Jazz
4. A Bookshelf Full of Influences
5. Detective Fiction
6. A Shadow Portrait
7. Hammett
8. Chandler
9. Fitzgerald
10. First Person
11. Mythologizing
12. Romanticism
13. Disturbances
14. Students and Teachers
15. The Books
16. Characters
17. Short Works
18. Writing
19. Variations on a Theme
20 Truth in Fiction
21 Critics and Criticism
22. The Instant Enemy
23. Hollywood
24. The Doomsters
25. The Blue Hammer
26. Painters and Other Artists
27. Cause and Effect
28. Popular Culture
29. California
30. Beyond Archer
Acknowledgements
Sources and Cited Works
Index
About the Authors

A children’s biography of E. B. White. That’s an unlikely book, but Melissa Sweet manages to pull it off. Using a collage design, Sweet presents E. B. White in his own words mostly. From White’s career on THE NEW YORKER to the classic children’s books he wrote, Sweet captures the essence of a complicated man in terms children (and adults) can understand. I read Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web to Patrick and Katie. Diane read E. B. White’s classics to her classes. I love Essays of E. B. White. What’s your favorite E. B. White book? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter 1: All’s Right With the World Department
Chapter 2.: One More to the Lake
Chapter 3: Years of Wonder
Chapter 4: From Seas to Shining Sea
Chapter 5: Answers to Hard Questions
Chapter 6: A Time of Enchantment
Chapter 7: Stuart Little
Chapter 8: Bad News
Chapter 9: Charlotte’s Web
Chapter 10: The Elements of Style
Chapter 11: The Trumpet of the Swan
Chapter 12: What Do Our Hearts Treasure?
Chapter 13: Stentences We Hated to Come to the End Of
Author’s Note
About the Art
Afterword by Martha White
Timeline
Selected Bibliography
Thank – Yous
Index

A Sony executive told Sharon Jones that she was “too short, too fat, too black and too old.” Fortunately, Sharon Jones ignored him and kept singing soul songs at birthdays and weddings. Finally, Sharon Jones met the Dap-Kings, a New York City group that was trying to produce classic soul music. Over the years, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings toured and built an audience for their sound. This documentary captures the raw excitement of their shows. But, just as Sharon Jones was about to release her latest CD in 2014, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer. Miss Sharon Jones provides a window into her cancer treatment and recovery. It’s grim, but inspiring. Sadly, Sharon Jones lost her fight against cancer over this past weekend. A great talent has left the Stage. GRADE: B+

Here’s the perfect stocking stuffer for that Batman fan on your Holiday Gift List: Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders. This new animated feature holds plenty of surprises. Adam West is the voice of Batman. Bert Ward returns as Robin. Julie Newmar’s voice as Catwoman is just as sexy as it was back in the Sixties. The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, and Catwoman plan a caper to steal a new Replicating weapon. Batman and Robin are on the case, but the plot is more complicated than appearances would indicate. If you’re a fan of the classic Sixties Batman TV series, you’ll love this new fun adventure! GRADE: A

The 4-5 Buffalo Bills emerge from their Bye Week with a daunting challenge before them: win 6 of their remaining 7 games and reach the Playoffs. If the Bills are going to pull off this miracle, they need to start today. The Bengals lost on Monday Night Football to the Giants. They are beaten up and tired. The Bills have had two weeks to get ready for this game. A loss would pretty much end the Bills’s season (if it isn’t over already). How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is one of the most anticipated movies of 2016. Harry Potter fans of all ages look forward to more adventures in Magic and Wizardry. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, a protector of Fantastic Beasts. On his visit to 1926 New York City, some of Newt’s Fantastic Beasts escape and much of the movie is taken up with chasing them down and recapturing them. Then, there is a darker sub-plot about an evil wizard who is trying to start a war between the Muggles (humans) and those with Magic powers. I liked Katherine Waterston as Tina, a Magic police woman. And Alison Sudol as Queenie, a mind-reading wizardess. Dan Fogler plays a would-be baker who gets caught up in all the action.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is reportedly the first of five films in this new series. I was not impressed with J. K. Rowling’s screenplay which is chatty and meandering. I hope Rowling lets the folks who did the Harry Potter movies improve on this shaky start. GRADE: C+

I starting reading John Brunner short novels in the early 1960s when it seemed like half of every ACE Double was written by Brunner. Short novels like The 100th Millennium Ace D-362 (1959) (based on “Earth Is But a Star”, revised as Catch a Falling Star Ace G-761 (1968)), Echo in the Skull Ace D-385 (1959) (revised as Give Warning to the World DAW #112 1974), The World Swappers Ace D-391 (1959), Slavers of Space Ace D-421 (1960) (revised as Into the Slave Nebula Lancer (1968)), The Skynappers Ace D-457 (1960), The Atlantic Abomination Ace D-465 (1960), Sanctuary in the Sky Ace D-471 (1960), I Speak for Earth Ace D-497 (1961) (as Keith Woodcott), Meeting at Infinity Ace D-507 (1961), and Secret Agent of Terra Ace F-133 (1962) (revised as The Avengers of Carrig Dell (1969), Book 1 of the “Zarathustra Refugee Planets” series.). You get the idea. Brunner was prolific and everywhere in those years. In addition to all the short novels he sold to ACE Books, he wrote some great short stories, too. I’m a big fan of “The Totally Rich” which anticipates our 1% Society. Joe Haldeman provides an insightful “Introduction.” If you haven’t read any John Brunner, The Best of John Brunner is a great place to start.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: The Brunner Mosaic, by Joe Haldeman
“The Totally Rich” (Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1963)
“The Last Lonely Man” (New Worlds SF, #142 May-June 1964)
“Galactic Consumer Report No. 1: Inexpensive Time Machines” (Galaxy Magazine, December 1965)
“Fair” (New Worlds Science Fiction #45, March 1956)
“Such Stuff” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1962)
“Galactic Consumer Report No. 2: Automatic Twin-Tube Wishing Machines” (Galaxy Magazine, June 1966)
“Tracking with Close-ups (21) and (23) (excerpt from Stand on Zanzibar)
“X-Hero” (Omni, March 1980)
“No Future in It” (Science Fantasy, September 1955)
“Galactic Consumer Report No. 3: A Survey of the Membership” (Galaxy Magazine, December 1967)
“What Friends Are For” (Fellowship of the Stars, 1974)
“The Taste of the Dish and the Savor of the Day” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1977)
“Galactic Consumer Report No. 4: Thing-of-the-Month Clubs” (Galaxy, January 1969)
“The Man Who Saw the Thousand-Year Reich” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November 1981)
“An Elixir for the Emperor” (Fantastic Stories of Imagination, November 1964)
“The Suicide of Man” (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, July-August 1978)
“The Vitanuls” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1967)

I’ve read George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession but never saw a production of it until the play was put on this season as part of the Shaw Festival. Mrs. Warren runs a number of elite brothels in various countries. She is very wealthy. But her daughter, Vivie, has been raised outside “The Life” and attended Cambridge. She wants to become an accountant. When Vivie learns the truth about her mother’s profession and the source of the wealth that gave her a first-class education, she rebels. Shaw makes his points about the opportunities of women in Victorian England. Much of Shaw’s arguments are still valid today. I thought the second act of Mrs. Warren’s Profession dragged a bit as the same arguments Shaw made in Act One get rehashed in Act Two. While Mrs. Warren’s Profession isn’t my favorite Shaw play, it accurately depicts the state of women in 1908. GRADE: B