MR. MONK’S LAST CASE [Peacock]

Diane and I used to watch Monk, a hour-long police procedural, that aired from 2002 until 2009 on the USA Network. Each episode presented a different murder to solve. What differentiated Monk from the other whodunit TV shows at the time was the fun the screenplays had with the quirky brilliance of its lead investigator, Adrian Monk (played by Tony Shalhoub), who epitomized obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now, after almost 15 years, Shalhoub and most of his original castmates are back, in a new movie on the Peacock streaming service, titled Mr. Monk’s Last Case.

The original Monk  series played like a comedy. Monk creator Andy Breckman submitted the show for Emmy consideration in the comedy categories, and Shalhoub competed against sitcom stars to win the award for lead actor three times. And, until The Walking Dead came along, the finale of Monk held the record as the most-viewed scripted drama on cable television.

In Mr. Monk’s Last Case things are not going well for Mr. Monk. After working on his memoirs for 10 years, Monk’s publisher rejects his massive manuscript–pages and pages praising Monk’s stove–which spends too few pages on the 140 murders he solved. The publisher demands Monk return the advance they paid him a decade ago. Monk has promised to pay for his step-daughter, Molly’s, wedding and now confronts another failure.

But Fate steps in just as Monk is on the brink of despair and proves him a murder to solve: Molly’s fiancé dies in a freak bungee-cord jump and Molly is convinced he was murdered. After a short resistance to entering the investigative world again, Monk goes all in.

Although the title of this TV movie is Mr. Monk’s Last Case, I’m hoping for more of Mr. Monk. Were you a Monk fan? GRADE: B+

FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #780: 101 HORROR BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU’RE MURDERED By Sadie Hartmann

Sadie Hartmann’s new 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered puts its emphasis on more recent horror novels, mostly those published in the past 15 years. A few classics are included like Joe Lansdale’s The Bottoms from 2000 and The Ballad of Black Tom (2016) by Victor LaValle but the majority of the books recommended are new to me. Check out the Book List and Table of Contents below.

Each book receives a page with information about the author, a picture of the cover artwork, and a summary of the plot with emphasis on why you should read it. I’ve read Christopher Buehlman’s (p. 20-21) The Blacktongue Thief (2021) and Buehlman is featured in an interview here where he mentions books that affected him and his writing career: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Last Days by Adam Nevill, and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist audiobook where the author is the narrator.

Many of you might be familiar with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman’s Horror: The 100 Best Books (1993) and Horror: Another 100 Best Books (2005). 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered updates those two volumes and will cause you to order more books in this genre. GRADE: A

101 Horror Books To Read Before You’re Murdered – List

1The Grip of It
by Jac Jemc (Goodreads Author)
 3.19 avg rating — 12,414 ratingsscore: 100, and 1 person voted  
2The Book of Accidents
by Chuck Wendig (Goodreads Author)
 3.74 avg rating — 22,058 ratingsscore: 99, and 1 person voted  
3Just Like Home
by Sarah Gailey (Goodreads Author)
 3.37 avg rating — 26,144 ratingsscore: 98, and 1 person voted  
4Kill Creek
by Scott Thomas
 3.77 avg rating — 19,542 ratingsscore: 97, and 1 person voted  
5The Ancestor
by Danielle Trussoni (Goodreads Author)
 3.37 avg rating — 4,340 ratingsscore: 96, and 1 person voted  
6The Switch House
by Tim Meyer (Goodreads Author)
 3.57 avg rating — 652 ratingsscore: 95, and 1 person voted  
7Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)
 3.85 avg rating — 135,383 ratingsscore: 94, and 1 person voted  
8NOS4A2
by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)
 4.08 avg rating — 127,717 ratingsscore: 93, and 1 person voted  
9Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
by Michael Crichton
 4.10 avg rating — 950,489 ratingsscore: 92, and 1 person voted  
10Pet Sematary
by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
 4.06 avg rating — 583,302 ratingsscore: 91, and 1 person voted  
11Hell Hound
by Ken Greenhall
 3.93 avg rating — 1,293 ratingsscore: 90, and 1 person voted  
12Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
by Michael Crichton
 4.10 avg rating — 950,489 ratingsscore: 89, and 1 person voted  
13Hearts Strange and Dreadful
by Tim McGregor (Goodreads Author)
 4.27 avg rating — 189 ratingsscore: 88, and 1 person voted  
14The Return
by Rachel Harrison
 3.36 avg rating — 14,803 ratingsscore: 87, and 1 person voted  
15Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 4.27 avg rating — 17,553 ratingsscore: 86, and 1 person voted  
16The Lesser Dead
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 4.05 avg rating — 5,752 ratingsscore: 85, and 1 person voted  
17Those Across the River
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 3.71 avg rating — 12,133 ratingsscore: 84, and 1 person voted  
18The Suicide Motor Club
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 3.93 avg rating — 1,725 ratingsscore: 83, and 1 person voted  
19The Necromancer’s House
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 3.75 avg rating — 3,022 ratingsscore: 82, and 1 person voted  
20The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
 4.23 avg rating — 20,178 ratingsscore: 81, and 1 person voted  
21White Horse
by Erika T. Wurth (Goodreads Author)
 3.52 avg rating — 10,742 ratingsscore: 80, and 1 person voted  
22When the Reckoning Comes
by LaTanya McQueen
 3.72 avg rating — 6,627 ratingsscore: 79, and 1 person voted  
23The Hacienda
by Isabel Cañas (Goodreads Author)
 3.84 avg rating — 39,688 ratingsscore: 78, and 1 person voted  
24The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
by Tara Moore (Editor)
 3.79 avg rating — 717 ratingsscore: 77, and 1 person voted  
25The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Two
by Allen Grove (Editor)
 4.01 avg rating — 210 ratingsscore: 76, and 1 person voted  
26The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Three
by Simon Stern (Editor)
 3.97 avg rating — 128 ratingsscore: 75, and 1 person voted  
27The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Four
by Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor)
 3.85 avg rating — 93 ratingsscore: 74, and 1 person voted  
28The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Five
by Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor)
 3.79 avg rating — 86 ratingsscore: 73, and 1 person voted  
29The Shrieking Skull & Other Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
by James Skipp Borlase
 3.68 avg rating — 50 ratingsscore: 72, and 1 person voted  
30Hark! the Herald Angels Scream
by Christopher Golden (Goodreads Author) (editor)
 3.70 avg rating — 1,727 ratingsscore: 71, and 1 person voted  
31Season’s Creepings: Tales of Holiday Horror
by Ronald Kelly (Goodreads Author)
 4.09 avg rating — 342 ratingsscore: 70, and 1 person voted  
32Wraith
by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)
 4.12 avg rating — 4,347 ratingsscore: 69, and 1 person voted  
33Krampus: The Yule Lord
by Brom (Goodreads Author)
 4.11 avg rating — 10,734 ratingsscore: 68, and 1 person voted  
34Secret Santa
by Andrew Shaffer (Goodreads Author)
 3.46 avg rating — 4,358 ratingsscore: 67, and 1 person voted  
35The Visitor
by Sergio Gomez (Goodreads Author)
 3.35 avg rating — 3,954 ratingsscore: 66, and 1 person voted  
36Dead of Winter
by Kealan Patrick Burke
 3.95 avg rating — 925 ratingsscore: 65, and 1 person voted  
37Halldark Holidays
by Gabino Iglesias (Goodreads Author) (Editor)
 4.28 avg rating — 79 ratingsscore: 64, and 1 person voted  
38Where the Dead Go to Die
by Aaron Dries (Goodreads Author)
 4.01 avg rating — 517 ratingsscore: 63, and 1 person voted  
39Ghost Summer
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.21 avg rating — 1,984 ratingsscore: 62, and 1 person voted  
40The Good House
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 3.99 avg rating — 7,688 ratingsscore: 61, and 1 person voted  
41The Between
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.06 avg rating — 3,756 ratingsscore: 60, and 1 person voted  
42My Soul to Keep (African Immortals, #1)
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.15 avg rating — 6,293 ratingsscore: 59, and 1 person voted  
43The Living Blood (African Immortals, #2)
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.35 avg rating — 2,620 ratingsscore: 58, and 1 person voted  
44Blood Colony (African Immortals, #3)
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.13 avg rating — 1,648 ratingsscore: 57, and 1 person voted  
45My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4)
by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)
 4.15 avg rating — 1,102 ratingsscore: 56, and 1 person voted  
46Ghoul
by Brian Keene (Goodreads Author)
 3.86 avg rating — 4,536 ratingsscore: 55, and 1 person voted  
47The Birds and Other Stories
by Daphne du Maurier
 4.05 avg rating — 11,989 ratingsscore: 54, and 1 person voted  
48The Cormorant
by Stephen Gregory (Goodreads Author)
 3.52 avg rating — 904 ratingsscore: 53, and 1 person voted  
49The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters
by J.W. Ocker (Goodreads Author)
 3.91 avg rating — 1,386 ratingsscore: 52, and 1 person voted  
50In the Valley of the Sun
by Andy Davidson (Goodreads Author)
 3.86 avg rating — 2,006 ratingsscore: 51, and 1 person voted  
51The Children on the Hill
by Jennifer McMahon (Goodreads Author)
 3.86 avg rating — 28,003 ratingsscore: 50, and 1 person voted  
52Hairspray and Switchblades
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.76 avg rating — 309 ratingsscore: 49, and 1 person voted  
53Goddess of Filth
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.67 avg rating — 5,409 ratingsscore: 48, and 1 person voted  
54The Queen of the Cicadas
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.76 avg rating — 1,374 ratingsscore: 47, and 1 person voted  
55Mestiza Blood
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.91 avg rating — 304 ratingsscore: 46, and 1 person voted  
56The Haunting of Alejandra
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.66 avg rating — 4,845 ratingsscore: 45, and 1 person voted  
57Aliens: Vasquez
by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)
 3.38 avg rating — 359 ratingsscore: 44, and 1 person voted  
58Boys in the Valley
by Philip Fracassi (Goodreads Author)
 4.23 avg rating — 4,363 ratingsscore: 43, and 1 person voted  
59The Demonologist
by Andrew Pyper (Goodreads Author)
 3.32 avg rating — 9,755 ratingsscore: 42, and 1 person voted  
60The Wicked
by James Newman (Goodreads Author)
 3.85 avg rating — 732 ratingsscore: 41, and 1 person voted  
61Come Closer
by Sara Gran (Goodreads Author)
 3.65 avg rating — 27,801 ratingsscore: 40, and 1 person voted  
62My Best Friend’s Exorcism
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.94 avg rating — 106,611 ratingsscore: 39, and 1 person voted  
63We Sold Our Souls
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.74 avg rating — 23,110 ratingsscore: 38, and 1 person voted  
64Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 4.27 avg rating — 9,798 ratingsscore: 37, and 1 person voted  
65The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.81 avg rating — 210,690 ratingsscore: 36, and 1 person voted  
66How to Sell a Haunted House
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.71 avg rating — 89,847 ratingsscore: 35, and 1 person voted  
67The Final Girl Support Group
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.53 avg rating — 130,578 ratingsscore: 34, and 1 person voted  
68Horrorstör
by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)
 3.66 avg rating — 89,109 ratingsscore: 33, and 1 person voted  
69The Year of the Witching (Bethel, #1)
by Alexis Henderson (Goodreads Author)
 3.81 avg rating — 36,557 ratingsscore: 32, and 1 person voted  
70Hex
by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Goodreads Author)
 3.73 avg rating — 36,368 ratingsscore: 31, and 1 person voted  
71Clown in a Cornfield (Clown in a Cornfield, #1)
by Adam Cesare (Goodreads Author)
 3.74 avg rating — 23,734 ratingsscore: 30, and 1 person voted  
72The Nightmare Girl
by Jonathan Janz (Goodreads Author)
 3.98 avg rating — 541 ratingsscore: 29, and 1 person voted  
73Brother
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.94 avg rating — 38,342 ratingsscore: 28, and 1 person voted  
74The Devil Crept In
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.66 avg rating — 8,712 ratingsscore: 27, and 1 person voted  
75Seed
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.79 avg rating — 22,528 ratingsscore: 26, and 1 person voted  
76The Bird Eater
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.53 avg rating — 10,314 ratingsscore: 25, and 1 person voted  
77Within These Walls
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.63 avg rating — 6,343 ratingsscore: 24, and 1 person voted  
78Dark Across the Bay
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.55 avg rating — 3,400 ratingsscore: 23, and 1 person voted  
79Apart in the Dark: Novellas
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.86 avg rating — 413 ratingsscore: 22, and 1 person voted  
80If You See Her
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.65 avg rating — 2,430 ratingsscore: 21, and 1 person voted  
81The Neighbors
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.29 avg rating — 7,408 ratingsscore: 20, and 1 person voted  
82The Shuddering
by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)
 3.68 avg rating — 11,840 ratingsscore: 19, and 1 person voted  
83The Ballad of Black Tom
by Victor LaValle
 3.86 avg rating — 27,695 ratingsscore: 18, and 1 person voted  
84The Worm and His Kings (The Worm and His Kings, #1)
by Hailey Piper (Goodreads Author)
 3.79 avg rating — 1,700 ratingsscore: 17, and 1 person voted  
85The Fisherman
by John Langan
 3.93 avg rating — 24,710 ratingsscore: 16, and 1 person voted  
86A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror
by John Hornor Jacobs (Goodreads Author)
 3.82 avg rating — 2,574 ratingsscore: 15, and 1 person voted  
87Walk The Darkness Down
by John Boden (Goodreads Author)
 4.14 avg rating — 147 ratingsscore: 14, and 1 person voted  
88Knock Knock (The Skillute Cycle #1)
by S.P. Miskowski (Goodreads Author)
 3.83 avg rating — 477 ratingsscore: 13, and 1 person voted  
89The Bottoms by Joe R Lansdale (2010-12-07)
by Joe R. Lansdale (Goodreads Author)
 4.18 avg rating — 8,492 ratingsscore: 12, and 1 person voted  
90December Park
by Ronald Malfi (Goodreads Author)
 4.26 avg rating — 2,324 ratingsscore: 11, and 1 person voted  
91Penpal
by Dathan Auerbach (Goodreads Author)
 3.86 avg rating — 36,185 ratingsscore: 10, and 1 person voted  
92Of Foster Homes and Flies
by Chad Lutzke (Goodreads Author)
 4.34 avg rating — 1,230 ratingsscore: 9, and 1 person voted  
93The Ghost Tree
by Christina Henry (Goodreads Author)
 3.83 avg rating — 6,461 ratingsscore: 8, and 1 person voted  
94The Deer Kings
by Wendy N. Wagner (Goodreads Author)
 4.36 avg rating — 47 ratingsscore: 7, and 1 person voted  
95The Bone Weaver’s Orchard
by Sarah Read (Goodreads Author)
 3.77 avg rating — 602 ratingsscore: 6, and 1 person voted  
96The Listener
by Robert McCammon
 4.05 avg rating — 2,475 ratingsscore: 5, and 1 person voted  
97Bird Box (Bird Box, #1)
by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)
 4.04 avg rating — 187,128 ratingsscore: 4, and 1 person voted  
98Pearl
by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)
 3.41 avg rating — 4,012 ratingsscore: 3, and 1 person voted  
99Malorie (Bird Box, #2)
by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)
 3.81 avg rating — 22,675 ratingsscore: 2, and 1 person voted  
100A House at the Bottom of a Lake
by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)
 3.20 avg rating — 16,308 ratings

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

FORWARD By Josh Malerman — 4

INTRODUCTION By Sadie Hartmann — 7

Paranormal. Haunted houses — 11

Ghosts — 22

I grew up with ghosts / by Cassandra Khaw — 38

Creatures & cryptids — 30

Supernatural. Demons & possession — 41

The occult & witchcraft — 50

Cosmic horror — 56

Make horror gay AF / by Hailey Piper — 62

Human monsters — 65

Coming-of-age — 66

Grief, loss & death — 78

Cults — 88

Slashers & serial killers — 98

Body horror — 105

Creepy kids — 110

Crime & investigation — 116

A secret language only we can speak: the comfort of queer horror / by Eric LaRocca — 122

Natural order horror — 125

Apocalyptic, dystopian & sci-fi — 126

Eco horror — 136

From out of the dark came blackness / by RJ Joseph – 142

Short story collections — 145

The Sharpest stake / by Daniel Kraus — 158

You’re a Horror Junkie! Now What? — 160

Book Checklist — 162

Acknowledgements — 164

About the Author — 164

Index — 165

THE BEST OF SADE and SADE LOVERS LIVE

Deb mentioned Sade in her comment last week so I found my copies of The Best of Sade (1994) and Sade Lovers Live (2004) and listened to them again. “Sade is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead vocalist of her band Sade. The band released the album Diamond Life, which became one of the era’s best-selling albums and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist. The band released their third album (Stronger Than Pride) in 1988, and a fourth album (Love Deluxe) in 1992. The band went on hiatus in 1996 after the birth of Sade’s child.

After eight years without an album, the band reunited in 1999 and released Lovers Rock in 2000. The album departed from the jazz-inspired inflections of their previous work, featuring mellower sounds and pop compositions. The band produced no more music until the release of Soldier of Love, ten years later. Since then, they have released two songs, “Flower of the Universe” for the soundtrack of Disney‘s A Wrinkle in Time, and “The Big Unknown“, part of the soundtrack of Steve McQueen‘s film Widows.”

I played “Smooth Operator” constantly when I first heard it. The same with “The Sweetest Taboo,” and “Hang On To Your Love.” Great music by a great artist. Are you a Sade fan? Do you have a favorite song? GRADE: A (for both)

TRACK LIST:

Your Love Is King3:41
Hang On To Your Love4:29
Smooth Operator4:16
Jezebel5:23
The Sweetest Taboo4:25
Is It A Crime6:16
Never As Good As The First Time3:58
Love Is Stronger Than Pride4:17
Paradise3:36
Nothing Can Come Between Us3:52
No Ordinary Love7:19
Like A Tattoo3:36
Kiss Of Life4:10
Please Send Me Someone To Love3:40
Cherish The Day6:17
Pearls4:35

TRACK LIST:

A1Cherish The Day
A2Somebody Already Broke My Heart
A3Smooth Operator
A4Jezebel
A5Kiss of Life
A6Slave Song
A7The Sweetest Gift
B1The Sweetest Taboo
B2Paradise
B3No Ordinary Love
B4By Your Side
B5Flow
B6Is It A Crime

Jim Gaffigan: Barely Alive Tour

Diane and I drove to the Sheas’s Performing Arts Theatre at 5:00 P.M. and joined 2000+ Jim Gaffigan fans for Gaffigan’s Barely Alive Tour. Gaffigan had five performances in Buffalo–including an 8:00 P.M. show after our 5:00 P.M. show–and all of them sold out. Clearly, Western NY is Jim Gaffigan Country.

For those of you who watched Gaffigan’s 2023 Dark Pale comedy “Special” on AMAZON Prime Video (you can read my review here), some of those routines were recycled on the Barely Alive Tour stand-up comedy.

Gaffigan repeated his jokes about Pat Sajak of Wheel of Fortune and told the story of his family getting a dog…despite his wife’s allergies to dogs. Gaffigan also explained his weight loss. He’s on Mounjaro (“Way better than Ozempic!”). However, people come up to Gaffigan’s wife asking, “Does Jim have cancer? He’s lost so much weight!”

Ted Alexandro, a comic who told us that he’s been doing stand-up for 30 years, 6 of those as the opening act for Jim Gaffigan, had the audience laughing for about 25 minutes. Most of his jokes concerned the life-style of being a 60 year-old comic married to woman who does psychic readings. They also have two toddlers.

Alexandro, followed by Gaffigan, delivered about 90 minutes of humor to an appreciative audience. Are you a Jim Gaffigan fan? GRADE: B

OUTLIVE: THE SCIENCE & ART OF LONGEVITY By Peter Attia, MD

Peter Attia’s Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity focuses on how to live better longer. A long life without quality of life is just existing. Attia explores the recent medical research and advances that give us more control over our long-term health.

Attia believes adjusting your diet can produce positive health effects. The big culprits are sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Research shows how sugar and high fructose corn syrup adversely affect our glucose levels leaving us sluggish and drained of energy.

Heart disease is the biggest killer in America. Attia suggests several strategies to improve heart health. The two easiest strategies to reduce your risk of heart attacks and stokes are daily exercise and a Mediterranean diet.

Check out the graph below. As we age, our immune systems weaken and the chances of contracting cancer increases. Cancer is most deadly to people over 70 years of age. But Attia provides recommendations to reduce cancer risk later in Life. One factor that can help is sleep. As we age, sleep becomes more elusive. Quality sleep recharges our immune system to fight off cancers and other diseases.

CANCER INCIDENCE BY AGE IN THE UNITED STATES

Our most powerful tool for preventing cognitive decline is exercise. As we age, our physical capacity erodes. Our cardio respiratory fitness declines, we lose strength and muscle mass over the years, and our bones grow fragile as our joints stiffen and our balance falters. Daily exercise can stave off physical decline and keep our brains healthy. I found Attia’s advice useful. If you want to improve your quality of Life and age more sensibly, I highly recommend Outlive. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction 1 

Chapter 1 The Long Game: From Fast Death to Slow Death 7 

Chapter 2 Medicine 3.0: Rethinking Medicine for the Age of Chronic Disease 20 

Chapter 3 Objective, Strategy, Tactics: A Road Map for Reading This Book 36 

Chapter 4 Centenarians: The Older You Get, the Healthier You Have Been 59 

Chapter 5 Eat Less, Live Longer: The Science of Hunger and Health 73 

Chapter 6 The Crisis of Abundance: Can Our Ancient Genes Cope with Our Modern Diet? 88 

Chapter 7 The Ticker: Confronting-and Preventing-Heart Disease, the Deadliest Killer on the Planet 111 

Chapter 8 The Runaway Cell: New Ways to Address the Killer That Is Cancer 140 

Chapter 9 Chasing Memory: Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases 177

Chapter 10 Thinking Tactically: Building a Framework of Principles That Work for You 209 

Chapter 11 Exercise: The Most Powerful Longevity Drug 216 

Chapter 12 Training 101: How to Prepare for the Centenarian Decathlon 235 

Chapter 13 The Gospel of Stability: Relearning How to Move to Prevent Injury 263 

Chapter 14 Nutrition 3.0: You Say Potato, I Say “Nutritional Biochemistry” 291 

Chapter 15 Putting Nutritional Biochemistry into Practice: How to Find the Right Eating Pattern for You 307

Chapter 16 The Awakening: How to Learn to Love Sleep, the Best Medicine for Your Brain 349 

Chapter 17 Work in Progress: The High Price of Ignoring Emotional Health 377 

Epilogue 409 

Acknowledgments 413 

Notes 417 

References 431 

Index 471 

THE MARVELS [Disney+]

The Marvels is the 33rd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The budget for The Marvels was around $270 million according to a report from Forbes, making it the fourth most-expensive MCU movie and the highest budget for a non-Avengers film. With just an $80 million gross at the domestic box office, “The Marvels” is the only MCU film to fail to cross the $100 million mark—falling more than $50 million behind the $134 million grossed by the domestic box office’s second-worst performer, “The Incredible Hulk.” Now The Marvels is featured on Disney+.

The director of The Marvels, Nia DaCosta (“Little Woods,” “Candyman”), who co-wrote the screenplay with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik is going to find it difficult to direct another MCU movie with the poor showing of this film.

Brie Larson plays Captain Marvel a.k.a. Carol Danvers, a former Air Force pilot who inadvertently picked up superpowers. Marvel should have just stuck with Captain Marvel instead of adding Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel,to an over-plotted, overextended, overstuffed movie.

Part of the problem of The Marvels is the necessity of taking a lot of time on the screen to bring the audience up-to-date on all the backstories necessary to explain what the heck is going on. The Kree attack The Skrulls and Captain Marvel and her two buddies need to fix the disaster affects before the Universe is damaged.

Did The Marvels need a dance number? Why do all the fight scenes seem lame? Why does this $270 million movie look like it was made for TV?

As one of those Marvel fans who has seen all 33 MCU movies and watched the Ms Marvel TV series as well as WandaVison, I found The Marvels tedious. Maybe this is one of reasons Disney stock is down. GRADE: C

FORGOTTEN BOOKS #779: DAGON By Fred Chappell

COVER ART BY JOEL BARR

Fred Chappell, the great writer and teacher, died on January 4, 2024. Chappell wrote in a number of genres, but the one that I was most interested in was Chappell’s stories of Lovecraft pastiches. I’ve mentioned Chappell’s “The Adder” in several posts. It’s one of the most convincing and terrifying Lovecraftean stories I’ve ever read.

Dagon was first published in 1968. Dagon was awarded the Best Foreign Book by the French Academy. In 2009, Boson Books reprinted Dagon and its story of a man who encounters one of Lovecraft’s Gods. Dagon presides over the Deep Ones, a hidden amphibious humanoid race that resides in the Earth’s oceans, and is worshipped by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a secret cult based in Innsmouth. He is the consort of Mother Hydra.

Peter Leland inherits a farm and discovers he has some very strange neighbors. In a series of chilling scenes, Leland slowly finds himself in the grip of a power that takes over his world. Leland doesn’t realize it, but readers recognize the eerie power of Dagon is at work.

With almost psychedelic intensity Chappell’s prose maps the Fate of Leland as he changes and declines into state that prepares him for a meeting with Dagon. If you’re in the mood for a mysterious and sinister encounter with one of Lovecraft’s fiendish Gods, give Dagon a try. GRADE: B

AN ARTHUR FIEDLER VALENTINE and LOVE BITES

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought two CDs of love songs would be appropriate for this post. The first is a traditional collection of instrumental love songs, An Arthur Fiedler Valentine (2001) performed by The Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler conducting. I love “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “Love Me Tender,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

For those of you who prefer love songs with a little more energy, I’ve included Love Bites: More Romantic Power Ballads (1998). There’s a range of songs with various performers and groups. I’m sure you’ll recognize many of the songs on this CD (but, you may not like them). Do you have any Valentine’s Day plans? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

1Moonlight Serenade4:18
2Smoke Gets In Your Eyes4:21
3Love Is A Many Splendored Thing3:18
4Michelle3:40
5Embraceable You3:15
6Love Is Blue4:16
7Love Me Tender4:02
8Days Of Wine And Roses3:31
9A Man And A Woman3:56
10Laura2:54
11In The Mood3:24
12Star Dust3:09
13And I Love Her2:21
14Love Is Here To Stay2:47
15The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face5:12
16You Are The Sunshine Of My Life3:18
17Moon River3:42
18I Want To Hold Your Hand2:16

TRACK LIST:
1 Poison –Every Rose Has Its Thorn

2 Meat Loaf–Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad

3 Pat Benatar–Fire And Ice

4 Cinderella –Nobody’s Fool

5 Corey Hart–It Ain’t Enough

6 Enuff Z’Nuff–Goodbye

7 Starship –Sara

8 Europe –Carrie

9 Bonnie Tyler–Total Eclipse Of The Heart

10 Toto–I’ll Be Over You

11 Firehouse –Love Of A Lifetime

12 Styx–Lady

13 The Babys–Every Time I Think Of You

14 Kingdom Come –What Love Can Be

15 Mr. Big–To Be With You

16 Night Ranger– Goodbye