David Pogue is the “tech” reporter on CBS SUNDAY MORNING. He shows up to recommend the best cell phones and printers, etc. But, in this slim little book, Pogue distills his knowledge of common concerns of Life and offers some tips to make things easier. The subtitle of Pogue’s Basics: Life is “Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) for Simplifying Your Day.” I really liked Pogue’s approach to “How to Clean a Blender” (Fill the blender halfway with water…add a drop of dish detergent…and run it. Then, rinse with hot water. Done!). This book is full of helpful advice. Check it out! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
The Car
Travel
Food
Clothes
Out and About
House and Home
Animals
How to Clean Everything
Electronics
Your Body
Social Hacks
Life-Hack Lies
Acknowledgements
Index

Deadpool is a love story. True, it’s violent, vulgar, and occasionally funny, too. But the heart of the movie is a love story between Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin. After the disaster of Green Lantern I thought Ryan Reynolds would never star in another superhero movie. But, in Deadpool we find Reynolds tortured to activate his latent mutant powers. And, when those mutant powers appear, Reynolds finds he’s practically indestructible. Of course, the Bad Guy who was torturing Reynolds decides to go after his girl friend, Morena Baccarin. Big Mistake! Expect a huge climatic battle. Deadpool surprisingly took in $150 million last weekend. Not much is opening this weekend so I expect Deadpool to rule the top of the Box Office this week, too. If you’re looking for a quirky, violent love story then Deadpool will delight you. GRADE: A

I’ve been reading Gardner Dozois’s yearly Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies for decades. The Best of the Best distills 20 years of great fiction down to these 36 stories. There’s a wide range of stories: time travel, alien contact, far future, etc. Dozois has been honored with “Best Editor” awards. He shows why he deserves them with this excellent anthology. Copies are plentiful on the Internet. I bought my copy for a penny (plus Shipping & Handling). What a bargain!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 – BLOOD MUSIC, Greg Bear
2 – A CABIN ON THE COAST, Gene Wolfe
2 – SALVADOR, Lucius Shepard
2 – TRINITY, Nancy Kress
3 – FLYING SAUCER ROCK AND ROLL, Howard Waldrop
3 – DINNER IN AUDOGHAST, Bruce Sterling
3 – ROADSIDE RESCUE, Pat Cadigan
3 – SNOW, John Crowley
4 – THE WINTER MARKET, William Gibson
4 – THE PURE PRODUCT, John Kessel
6 – STABLE STRATEGIES FOR MIDDLE MANAGEMENT, Eileen Gunn
6 – KIRINYAGA, Mike Resnick
7 – TALES FROM THE VENIA WOODS, Robert Silverberg
8 – BEARS DISCOVER FIRE, Terry Bisson
10 – EVEN THE QUEEN, Connie Willis
11 – GUEST OF HONOR, Robert Reed
12 – NONE SO BLIND, Joe Haldeman
13 – MORTIMER GRAY’S HISTORY OF DEATH, Brian Stableford
13 – THE LINCOLN TRAIN, Maureen F. McHugh
13 – WANG’S CARPETS, Greg Egan
13 – COMING OF AGE IN KARHIDE, Ursula K. Le Guin
14 – THE DEAD, Michael Swanwick
14 – RECORDING ANGEL, Ian McDonald
14 – A DRY, QUIET WAR, Tony Daniel
15 – THE UNDISCOVERED, William Sanders
15 – SECOND SKIN, Paul J. McAuley
16 – THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE, Ted Chiang
17 – PEOPLE CAME FROM EARTH, Stephen Baxter
17 – THE WEDDING ALBUM, David Marusek
17 – 10 to the 16th TO ONE, James Patrick Kelly
17 – DADDY’S WORLD, Walter Jon Williams
18 – THE REAL WORLD, Steven Utley
19 – HAVE NOT HAVE, Geoff Ryman
19 – LOBSTERS, Charles Stross
20 – BREATHMOSS, Ian R. Macleod
20 – LAMBING SEASON, Molly Gloss

A couple weeks ago I reviewed Cherie Priest’s Maplecroft, a novel mashup of Lizzie Borden and H. P. Lovecraft. You can read that review here. I enjoyed the drama as dark forces closed in on the Borden sisters. Chapelwood takes place 30 years after the events of Maplecroft. A strange church in the woods outside Birmingham, Alabama takes on a cosmic task. A series of brutal murders draws Lizbeth Borden and Inspector Simon Wolf to the South to investigate this new threat. As much as I enjoy faux-Lovecraftean stories, Chapelwood lacks the weirdness of Maplecroft. If Cherie Priest is going to continue this series, she needs to amp up the dread and action. I enjoyed Chapelwood but I was hoping for more. GRADE: B

Diane’s Book Club chose Station Eleven as their January book. Diane initially had some trepidation about Station Eleven because she’s not a fan of science fiction. But once Diane started reading Station Eleven she was swept up by the story. A pandemic hits the world and kills most of the people. The survivors struggle to exist when civilization crumbles around them. The novel jumps back and forth from before the pandemic and after the pandemic. The inside cover asks: What would you miss? My answer would be EVERYTHING!

Needless to say, after Diane finished the book in record time, I read it. I’ve read a lot of dystopian novels. Station Eleven is pretty good. The most grim novel I can think of is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Station Eleven isn’t as dark, but the collapse of civilization brings plenty of violence and suffering. A band of actors and musicians travel from town to town keeping Shakespeare and classical music alive. If you’re in the mood for a thoughtful story of a possible tomorrow, I recommend Station Eleven. GRADE: B+

I remember seeing Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in a theater as a kid. Later, the movie showed up on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color TV program. Loved it! Now Snow White is available in Blu-ray format. Great color and resolution! Check out the Special Features:
In Walt’s Words — For The First Time Ever, Hear Walt Himself Talk About SNOW WHITE
Iconography — Explore How This Film Influences Pop Culture, Art And Fashion
Disney Animation: Designing Disney’s First Princess
Disney Artists Discuss The Design Of SNOW WHITE And How It Influenced The Look Of Some Of Your Favorite Disney Characters
The Fairest Facts Of Them All — Disney Channel Star Sofia Carson Reveals Seven Intriguing Facts About Snow White
Alternate Sequence — Never-Before-Seen Storyboard Sequence Where The Prince Meets Snow White

If you’re a fan of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs you’ll enjoy this package.
What’s your favorite Disney film? GRADE: A

WHO’S PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gestures as the key speaker at the annual Reagan Republican Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, October 25, 2013. (David Peterson/MCT via Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ajusts headphones at Echo Moskvy radio station Wednesday morning, Oct. 14, 2009. Clinton is wrapping up a five-day tour of Europe on Wednesday with a series of informal meetings in Moscow and the Russian republic of Tatarstan aimed at helping redefine U.S.-Russian relations. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko)

“The ransom of the soul of a man is his wealth.” This phrase from the book of Proverbs (13:8) launches Peter Brown’s incisive study of how Christian thinking evolved from 250 A.D. to 650 A.D. with regards to money. Money played a more and more active role in the Catholic Church in these years as wealthy believers took more elaborate steps to protect their souls and the souls of their families by building fabulous burial sites, buying influence among the church elites, and making lavish donations to build monasteries and funerary chapels. Peter Brown traces the growing influence of money on the Catholic Church and the effect of wealth on religious doctrine. Fascinating reading! GRADE: A

John O’Neill at BLACK GATE reviewed this massive collection. Somehow, it slipped past my radar. I went online and found a copy for a penny (plus Shipping & Handling). Yet this book is worth its considerable weight in gold. Exploring the Norizons comprises two separate collections, Explorers and The Furthest Horizon, bound together in this omnibus edition. Just take a look at the Table of Contents to see the quality of stories in this 916-page tome. And the John Berkey cover is eye-popping!  Highly recommended!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXPLORERS:
Preface by Gardner Dozois
“The Sentinel,” by Arthur C. Clarke (10 Story Fantasy, Spring 1951)
“Moonwalk,” by H. B. Fyfe (Space Science Fiction, November 1952)
“Grandpa,” by James H. Schmitz (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1955)
“The Red Hills of Summer,” by Edgar Pangborn (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1959)
“The Longest Voyage,” by Poul Anderson (Analog, December 1960)
“Hot Planet,” by Hal Clement (Galaxy, August 1963)
“Drunkboat,” by Cordwainer Smith (Amazing Stories, October 1963)
“Becalmed in Hell,” by Larry Niven (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1965)
“Nine Hundred Grandmothers,” by R. A. Lafferty (If, February 1966)
“The Keys to December,” by Roger Zelazny (New Worlds, August 1966)
“Vaster Than Empires and More Slow,” by Ursula K. Le Guin (New Dimensions 1, 1971)
“A Meeting With Medusa,” by Arthur C. Clarke (Playboy, December 1971)
“The Man Who Walked Home,” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Amazing Science Fiction, May 1972)
“Long Shot,” by Vernor Vinge (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, August 1972)
“In the Hall of the Martian Kings,” by John Varley (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1977)
“Ginungagap,” by Michael Swanwick (TriQuarterly 49, 1980)
“Exploring Fossil Canyon,” by Kim Stanley Robinson (Universe 12, 1982)
“Promises to Keep,” by Jack McDevitt (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, December 1984)
“Lieserl,” by Stephen Baxter (Interzone #78, December 1993)
“Crossing Chao Meng Fu,” by G. David Nordley (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 1997)
“Wang’s Carpets,” by Greg Egan (New Legends, May 1995)
“A Dance to Strange Musics,” by Gregory Benford (Science Fiction Age, November 1998)
“Approaching Perimelasma,” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 1998)
THE FURTHEST HORIZON
Preface by Gardner Dozois
“Guyal of Sfere,” by Jack Vance (The Dying Earth, 1950)
“Old Hundredth,” by Brian W. Aldiss (New Worlds Science Fiction #100, November 1960)
“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard,” by Cordwainer Smith (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1961)
“Day Million,” by Frederik Pohl (Rogue, Feb/March 1966)
“Bumberboom,” by Avram Davidson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1966)
“Coranda,” by Keith Roberts (New Worlds, January 1967)
“Nightwings,” by Robert Silverberg (Galaxy, September 1968)
“Pale Roses,” by Michael Moorcock (New Worlds 7, December 1974)
“Anniversary Project,” by Joe Haldeman (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, October 1975)
“Slow Music,” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Interfaces, February 1980)
“The Map,” by Gene Wolfe (Light Years and Dark, November 1984)
“Dinosaurs,” by Walter Jon Williams (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, June 1987)
“The Death Artist,” by Alexander Jablokov (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, August 1990)
“Sister Alice,” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Science Fiction, November 1993)
“Recording Angel,” by Paul J. McAuley (New Legends, May 1995)
“Genesis,” by Poul Anderson (Far Futures, December 1995)
“The Days of Solomon Gursky,” by Ian McDonald (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 1998)