Kiss

Yesterday I reread Ed McBain's "Kiss". I had forgotten how good this one was. It starts off with a woman named Emma coming into the 87th precinct to report that a man is trying to kill her, has already made two attempts and failed, and now she realizes who he is: a man who used to drive her husband named Roger Turner Tilly. Then Tilly turns up dead. Emma's husband, Martin, hires a private detective from Chicago to come and be Emma's bodyguard. She quickly determines that her husband wants her dead and has hired Andrew (the bodyguard) to kill her--and she's right, that's exactly what's going on. Emma talks Andrew into turning on Martin, killing him instead of her, and promises to marry him so they can share Martin's fortune. What Andrew doesn't know is that the police have told Emma that they think Andrew's trying to kill her, and that he bought a certain type of gun. Emma lets Andrew commit the murder knowing the police already suspect him and will pin it on him, which they do. Unfortunately, they can't prove Emma had anything to do with it, and neither can Andrew, so off he goes alone to prison while Emma inherits all her husband's money. I love it!
Meanwhile (you know there's something else going on) Carella's attending the trial of the man who killed his father, and he ends up being acquitted. Ouch. Very sad.
I noticed that McBain dedicated this book to his second wife, Mary Vann, whom he divorced a few years after the book was published. In the dedication, he said it was for her because she worked so hard for it. Considering the theme of the book, I thought it was funny.

Mischief

Yesterday I finished rereading "Mischief" by Ed McBain. This is one of my favorites. There is just so much going on.
First of all, the Deaf Man is back, and he's planning on stealing the police department's haul of illegal narcotics that are scheduled to be incinerated. To create a diversion, he has planned to incite a riot at an outdoor concert taking place the same day.
One of the women Eileen works with on the Hostage Negotiating Team is shot and killed while Eileen is "working the door" during a hostage crisis. Bert Kling meets Sharyn Cooke, the doctor who operated Georgia, the police officer who was shot, and even though she is black and he is white, and she's a chief and outranks him, and is a doctor to boot, they start dating.
As if all this weren't enough, Meyer and Hawes are dealing with a man who is taking old people at the request of their families, and dumping them off in various locations in the city, hoping they won't be identified and returned. Ouch. I know it's hard to care for an elderly relative, but still. Yikes. And, believe it or not, this is tied in to thefts from a local nearby homeless shelter. McBain packs a lot into these pages, and it's very good.

Killer's Choice and Ghosts and Vespers

Three more rereads from Ed McBain.
"Killer's Choice" was an early one, the one where we meet Detective Cotton Hawes, who was supposed to take over as the "hero" of the series, since McBain's editor determined that women would not find a married man like Carella an appealing hero. He was an idiot, whoever he was. I like Hawes well enough, but Carella and Meyer are my favorites, and they are both married. Anyway, this one is about a woman named Annie Boone who is murdered, and the detectives have to figure out which one of her was killed in order to find the killer. See, Annie Boone was a different person to everyone who knew her: her ex-husband thought she was brilliant and vivacious and missed her dreadfully; her mother thought she was a dimwit; one boyfriend said she played billiards with the best of them and was really fun; another boyfriend thought she was a very refined lady who enjoyed ballet. In other words, a normal woman (at least, in my opinion. I like all sorts of seemingly unrelated past times--football, anyone?).
"Ghosts" I knew I had read before, but didn't really remember that well, because I didn't really like it. It was like a bad mix of "Law & Order" and the "X-Files"(which are wonderful when separate). Carella is investigating a murder of a man who writes about the supernatural, and the dead man's girlfriend is a medium. It was kind of silly.
"Vespers" is a really good one. A priest is murdered at his church, four blocks away from a Satan worshipping cult which ends up being tied into it in a very unexpected way. Detective Hal Willis (who I always kinda felt sorry for) is going through a personal crisis: his girlfriend, Marilyn, who was a prostitute in a former life and murdered her pimp to escape the life, stealing $2 million from him in the process, is being harassed by his cousin, who wants the money back. Marilyn doesn't completely confide in Hal, like a fool, she tries to protect him from any potential damage to his career. If I had a boyfriend who was a cop and some guys were coming after me, I would get a twenty-four hour guard on me. Well, I felt sorry for Marilyn, too. And the whole mystery of who killed the priest was great.

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here

Yesterday I finished rereading another Ed McBain (no, there is no foreseeable end in sight). This one showed 24 hours in the life of the 87th precinct: the night shift and the day shift. The numerous different crimes, some more serious than others, were all solved in a relatively short period of time, within each detective's shift. I like this one because it has a lot of humor. It was fun.

Shotgun and the Heckler and Jigsaw

Three more rereads from Ed McBain.
First, "Shotgun". A couple is found dead in their apartment with shotgun wounds to the face. Not a pretty sight. After much legwork, the detectives find out that the man killed was not the husband but the woman's lover, and it was the husband that killed them both, using a shotgun to distort the features, making identification harder, so he could continue to live his life. I sympathize with cuckolded husbands, but really, murder? It's a little extreme.
"The Heckler" is an earlier one. The plot takes points from an Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, "The Redheaded League" (which I highly recommend--anything about Sherlock Holmes!). Anyway, seemingly random local businesses are getting harassing phone calls, telling them to leave by the end of the month or die. One business, the one directly above a bank, gets phony deliveries of food, goods, all kinds of crazy stuff. One day an ad appears in the paper that the business is looking for redheaded girls to model their dresses, and boy, do they show up out of the woodwork! The boys at the 87th figure the heckler is trying to run the guy out of his loft so they can rob the bank below. Almost...but not quite. This book marked the first appearance of the Deaf Man, and it's a good one.
"Jigsaw" finds the boys trying to solve a 6 year old robbery. A bank was held up, and $750,000 was stolen and never collected. All four thieves died in a car wreck almost immediately after leaving the scene of the crime, but the loot wasn't in the car, meaning they dumped it somewhere for later pickup. An insurance investigator thinks he knows where the drop off point was, but he needs the 87th's help. Apparently the criminals took a picture of the spot, and cut the picture up into 8 pieces, and distributed it amongst themselves, giving their pieces to family or friends for safekeeping. The insurance investigator would like the boys to help him collect the pieces and find the money. Unfortunately, people in possession of said pieces are mysteriously dying.

Lightning and Doll

Okay, two more by Ed McBain. Yesterday I finished rereading "Lightning". This is a really juicy one, lots of stuff going on. Eileen poses as a serial rape victim hoping to catch a rapist who is--get this--raping Catholic pro-life supporters in the hopes of getting them pregnant and forcing them to have abortions to show how hypocritical they are deep down. Yikes! Eileen does indeed attract the serial rapist, who ends up cutting and raping her. As if that wasn't enough, the 87th has to deal with a murderer who's killing promising young female track stars, and one is found in Ollie Week's precinct (the 83rd in this book; later, it's the 88th). Turns out the killer was a former Olympic gold medalist track star who missed the fame and attention. In this book it seems like McBain was trying to show just how crazy people can be. He succeeded.
This morning it was "Doll" that I finished rereading, an earlier one. A beautiful model is murdered while her 5 year old daughter plays next door in her room with her doll. Carella figures out who the killer is and goes to make an arrest--by himself. He is overpowered and held hostage. The rest of the 87th has to try to find him before they kill him. Very good stuff.

Widows, Cop Hater, The Mugger, Killer's Payoff, Heat

Whew, I have some catching up to do! All these books are of course by Ed McBain. And I found 5 more in my closet earlier today, so I'm set for another few days.
On Thursday I reread "Widows" and "Cop Hater". "Widows" was a really great one: Carella's father is killed in a burglary at his bakery, the 87th is dealing with a bunch of murders involving a man and his many mistresses and wives, plus Eileen Burke is making the transition from being a decoy to a hostage negotiator. Meaty stuff. I loved the little inside joke about the house being bought by the "Bordens" and then the floor plan being the same as Lizzie Borden's house back in 1892. Around the same time McBain wrote this book, he also wrote a fictionalized account of Lizzie Borden and the murder of her stepmother and father of which she was acquitted. I haven't yet read McBain's book. It's not easy to get ahold of, but I wonder how many people picked up on his little funny. Very clever.
"Cop Hater" was the first in the series, written back in 1956. Three of the 87th's detectives are murdered. It turns out it was the lover of the wife of one of the cops who wanted to bump his girlfriend's hubby off and make it look like an unrelated string of murders targeting cops. Brilliant.
On Friday I reread "The Mugger", the second book in the series. Eileen Burke makes her first appearance in this one, posing as a decoy to help catch a mugger who thanks his victims afterward. Patrolman Bert Kling is promoted to Detective after helping to solve the murder of an old friend's sister-in-law, who was just 17.
Saturday I reread "Killer's Payoff". It had a kind of "Murder on the Orient Express" theme going on, where a group of men kill off a blackmailer.
This morning I reread "Heat". An apparent suicide turns out to be a murder, and Bert discovers his wife is cheating on him. Ouch. To make matters worse, there's a man bent on revenge who is stalking him, and almost succeeds in killing him...twice.

The Pusher

This morning I finished rereading Ed McBain's "The Pusher". It is the third book in his 87th precinct series, the one in which Det. Steve Carella was supposed to die. McBain did not want his books to have a "hero", he wanted the city to be the focal point. Luckily, his agent and publisher disagreed and Carella was granted a reprieve. This book finds the boys at the 87th dealing with heroin dealers--in 1957! McBain was ahead of his time. This time it's personal--Lieutenant Byrnes son, Larry, is hooked and Carella goes undercover to catch the pusher who is trying to frame Larry for the murder of a small time dealer. Great story.

Enter Whining and Total Access

Earlier today I finished reading two books. The first was "Enter Whining" by Fran Drescher. It was her first autobiography, written 5 years before "Cancer Schmancer". It was fun and lighthearted, and she sounded so much happier than she did in the later one. I guess having cancer, going through a divorce, losing your hit TV show, and having your dog die really brings you down. I totally understand.
The second book was "Total Access" by Rich Eisen, and it was even funnier than Fran's book. Rich has the coolest job in the world: he's an anchorman for the NFL network (and I bet you thought I was done with football books! Ha!). His life is football, 12 months a year. He goes to every Super Bowl, every Pro Bowl in Hawaii, the Draft, the mini-camps, owner's meetings, the Hall of Fame ceremonies, gets to interview athletes, and goes to regular season games. He sounds like he has the greatest time doing it, too. I should have majored in journalism instead of library science!

Woman in White and Nocturne and Fat Ollie's Book

On Friday I finished reading "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. It was a very good mystery, but so long and complicated that by the end I was so confused as to who was who and what was going on! I should have kept notes along the way. I liked "The Moonstone" better, but this one was good, too.
I also read Ed McBain's "Nocturne". Since I owned it, I figured I had read it before, but it didn't sound the least bit familiar, so I'm going to say I read it for the first time on Saturday. It was very good. The boys of the 87th have an elderly, once famous pianist slain in what looks like a burglary. Ollie Weeks from the 88th precinct makes an appearance. I really like him; he's hilarious. He's a total jerk, not someone you would want to be friends with, but a good detective. Kinda like "House", on TV. Obnoxious but good at his job.
Today I reread "Fat Ollie's Book", also by Ed McBain. Det. Weeks has the manuscript of the novel he's writing stolen out of his car while he's investigating a murder of a city councilman getting ready to run for mayor. The 87th gets involved because the slain councilman lived in their area. Great use of the "book within a book" motif.

Eight Black Horses

Yesterday I reread "Eight Black Horses" by Ed McBain. One of my favorites, because it features the 87th's nemesis, the Deaf Man. The detectives start receiving first photocopies of different seemingly unrelated items: police hats, horses, pigs, etc. Then, after Christmas, each day for each of the 12 days of Christmas, they start receiving the actual items (the Deaf Man shots and kills 8 black horses in the police stable as a way of sending them, you see). On the 12 and last day, he has planted a bomb to go off in the squad room while all 12 detectives are there (12 roasted pigs, get it?). Through sheer luck his plan is foiled, and the Deaf Man escapes to torment another day.

Tricks and Ice

Yesterday I reread two Ed McBain novels about the 87th precinct: "Tricks" and "Ice". I know, I know: why, with all the good books out there that I haven't yet read, am I rereading all these books? I really don't know. Sometimes that is what I feel like doing. I've tried to ignore the urge and force myself to read new books, I've found I can't pay attention to the new one untill I've finished the old one.
"Tricks" (oh, and if you've never read McBain, you should. He's awesome, like "Law & Order", back when Lenny was there and it was cool) finds the boys at the 87th on Halloween dealing with midgets robbing convenience stores and cops getting shot. Also, Det. Eileen Burke is dealing with the trauma of her-on-the-job rape, and is acting as a hooker decoy to catch a rapist. Very good stuff.
"Ice" has three seemingly unrelated victims of gunshot murders. Their only connection seems to be that they all were killed with the same gun. Full of cocaine, theater, and rare gems, it's a great read.

Watchers

So, I decided to reread Dean Koontz's "Watchers" yesterday. What a great story, and how funny it was to think how different things were 20 years ago. The story involves Russians murdering American scientists to steal their secrets, people diving off boats to get to pay phones (no cell phones then), and, in one part, two cops are discussing the high cost of the new houses being built in Orange County. "At $180,000, they better be mansions" one cop says to the other, and I literally fell off the bed laughing. Were houses really that cheap back then? Oh, my lord! The average size home goes for what, $500,000 now in O.C., I think. What a shocking difference!
Of course, the best part of the story is the idea that a dog could be as intelligent as a human, that it could communicate. We who love our dogs often think they are that intelligent, and wish we knew what they were "thinking". It's sad how different Koontz's writing style is now: while he still introduces a couple of seemingly unrelated characters in the beginning and ties them together by the end, he no longer seems to put the time, effort, and detail into his work like he did in "Watchers". It was so rich, multi-layered, full of vibrant, rememberable characters. It's sad to compare it to what he's putting out these days.

The Darkest Evening of the Year

This morning I finished reading Dean Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year". Last summer he and his wife, Gerda, lost their beloved golden retriever, Trixie. So Koontz was compelled to write this book honoring her spirit, and the spirit of goldens everywhere. In this book, a professional golden rescuer named Amy rescues a special dog named Nickie. Nickie, it turns out, is not an ordinary dog, but rather the spirit of Amy's murdered daughter Nicole as well as an angel sent from heaven who literally saves Amy's life by healing her stab wounds.
I understand Koontz's pain. When my dog died when I was 17, I cried for weeks. I loved my dog. It took me 8 years before I could stand having another one, and when she dies, I will mourn again. Why do we keep dogs as pets, knowing they will die before us? We do it because we love animals, we love the companions that dogs are, how they are better than humans and have their own special personalities. But, if you want a really good Dean Koontz book about a golden retriever, read "Watchers". Published 20 years ago in 1987 (oh, I feel old...), it was the first Koontz book I ever read and it still remains, in my mind, one of his best.

Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery; Trixie Belden and the Sasquatch Mystery

On Saturday I reread two Trixie's, one by Julie Campbell and the other by Kathryn Kenny. First off, I went online and found out about the authors. Julie Campbell was a real author who wrote the first 6 Trixies. She died in 1999. After the first 6, she didn't want to write them anymore, so then Random House, who published the books, employed in-house writers under the pseudonym "Kathryn Kenny" to write the other titles, which explains how uneven some of them are.
"The Gatehouse Mystery" is #3, and it's another one of my favorites. Trixie and Honey explore an abandoned gatehouse on the Wheeler's property and find a diamond. Trixie's older brothers, Mart and Brian, come back from their jobs at summer camp, and the five teens start the Bob-Whites of the Glen club, so this one is sort of like the first real book where everything gets started. The first two books sort of set up future events.
"The Sasquatch Mystery" (and I've forgotten which number it is, 17, maybe) is not very good, honestly. I just pulled one off the shelf that I hadn't read so many times I knew it by heart. This one finds Trixie and the gang camping in Idaho with her cousins, when they run into the mysterious creature known as Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. Was it real, or was it some guy in a fur suit trying to scare off campers to hunt for gold? The ending suggests both.

Power, Money, and Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life

Yesterday I finished reading Deion Sander's "Power, Money, and Sex". Well, let me say this right off the bat: I'm glad he's found a religion that works for him, and that he feels happier and more fulfilled. Now, let me complain :-) I really can't feel sorry for him. No one will ever pay me millions of dollars to play football or, for that matter, baseball, professionally. I do not have a God given talent like that. The only God given talent I seem to have is for reading, and that doesn't pay much. So here's a man who has it all: money, fame, family, friends, houses, cars, etc., and he wants me to feel bad for him because he almost threw it all away (by driving his $200,000 Mercedes off a cliff) because his life felt so empty. I subscribe to the theory that whoever said money doesn't buy happiness just doesn't know where to shop. Sure, it's important to have other things in your life, but let's face it, it's a lot easier to be happier if you don't have to worry about making the mortgage.

Rhett Butler's People

Last night I finished reading Donald McCaig's sequel (sort of) to Margaret Mitchell's timeless classic "Gone With the Wind", called "Rhett Butler's People". Now, I remember when Alexandra Ripley's sequel, "Scarlett", came out, how excited everyone was, and the news showed stories of bookstores jammed packed with people to get her book (kinda like Harry Potter). There was no such hoopla around McCaig's book, which is a shame, because it was better. Unlike Ripley, McCaig did not try to pick up where Mitchell left off (and send Scarlett off to Ireland. What was up with that? Seriously). His book is divided into three parts: Rhett as a young man (where we find out that Belle Watling was the daughter of his father's plantation overseer), the second part is Rhett's point of view of the familiar "Gone With the Wind" story: meeting Scarlett, falling in love with her, etc. McCaig doesn't repeat a lot of Mitchell, which is nice. He also doesn't really flesh out the character of Scarlett, which I guess he felt he didn't need to, since anyone reading this book is already familiar with "Gone With the Wind", but I thought it was a mistake. Scarlett in this book is lifeless and dull; we are left wondering why this strong character of Rhett (who is nicely developed) falls in love with such a boring ninny. Melanie and Rhett's younger sister, Rosemary, take a much larger role in the book then Scarlett. The third part of the book deals with after Mitchell's book ends, and it's not tedious and unrealistic, like Ripley's was. Scarlett actually goes back to Tara to try to figure out how to get Rhett back. That was one thing I hated in Ripley's book: Scarlett, saying Tara just doesn't feel like home anymore. There was a collective shout of indignation from GWTW fans everywhere when they read that line! McCaig sends Scarlett home, and she seems in character there: working, like she did in the war, to save Tara (which she has foolishly mortgaged to get herself out of debt, to show Rhett she didn't need his money. That sounds like Scarlett: stubborn and foolish).
McCaig ties a lot of little things together for us. Remember the scene in GWTW where Scarlett takes a yellow shawl that Rhett brought her from Cuba and makes a sash for Ashley? Well, it turns out that shawl had a history: Rhett brought it back for his little sister, Rosemary, who he loved so dearly. Her little daughter, Meg, loved playing with it. After Rosemary loses both Meg and her husband John, she realizes she loved them both more than she ever showed and gives the shawl back to Rhett, begging him not to make the same mistakes in love that she did and give it to Scarlett, and to tell her how he really feels about her. Rhett goes to do just that, but Scarlett is so blithe with him that he just tosses the shawl at her like it was an afterthought and strolls out, unable to confess his deep love. Later, he sees Ashley with the sash and his pain is palpable. I actually winced when I read it, although McCaig does kind of beat it to death.
All in all, I think GWTW fans will enjoy this book, if they ever hear about it! It would actually be a good stand alone book. The style is completely different then Mitchell's, but it was interesting to see how Rhett thought about Scarlett.

Paper Lion

Yesterday I finished reading "Paper Lion" by George Plimpton. Plimpton lived every football fan's dream: in 1963, he got to go to training camp with the Detroit Lions and even play quarterback in one of their scrimmage games. It was a very entertaining book, told from a fan's point of view rather than someone in the business or an ex-player. You could tell he had a lot of fun with the team and bonded with its members, like a family. Nothing like that would ever happen today. The Lions were even going to let him play in their first pre-season game against the Cleavland Browns, but Commissioner Rozelle vetoed that. I think he was worried about setting a dangerous precedence. Anyway, I enjoyed this book very much.

Dead Street

I finished reading Mickey Spillane's "Dead Street" this morning, a hard-boiled cop story about a retired NYPD officer whose fiancee was kidnapped and murdered 20 years earlier because of the dirt she had on a mob heist involving plutonium. Sprang, the cop, finds out that Bettie, his fiancee, didn't die after all: she suffered head injuries that left her blind and an amnesiac, remembering nothing about her past. A kindly veterinarian took her in and raised her as his own daughter, knowing who she was and how her life would be in danger if anyone of the bad guys found her. He moved her to a cop retirement community in Florida, and his son tells Sprang where to find her after his dad dies. Sprang is reunited with his long lost love (very touching) and discovers why the bad guys were after her. Of course, in the end, he gets his men and they all live happily ever after. Typical Spillane. I miss him. Him and Ed McBain. I wasn't ready for either one of them to die.

Trixie Belden and the Mystery off Glen Road

Yesterday I reread my favorite Trixie mystery, by Julie Campbell (she wrote the first 6, then Kenny took over. I don't know why. I'll have to look online to see if I can find out). Anyway, this is number 5 and it finds Trixie and friends trying to repair their storm damaged clubhouse by working as game keepers for Mr. Wheeler. What I really like about this one is that the mystery isn't about bad guys; just a misunderstanding on Trixie's part, so it's more realistic then a group of teenagers catching a group of thieves or something. This one is also my favorite because it's super funny, and filled with laugh out loud moments. I've read it I don't even know how many times, and I still laughed myself silly last night.

Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire; Trixie Belden and the Pet Show Mystery

Yesterday I reread two Trixie Belden's by Kathryn Kenny that I haven't read in about 14 years, so while they were vaguely familiar, I had forgotten the particulars, which is always nice. The Memorial Day Fire has Trixie and the rest of the Bob-Whites investigating a possible arson at their friend's father's store, in which the father is the primary suspect. The Pet Show Mystery has Trixie and friends holding a pet show to raise money to feed the birds that are slowly starving because of the harsh, cold winter, and entangled with a gem smuggler posing as a philanthropist for human hunger causes. I miss Trixie. Why did they stop writing them? She was so much more entertaining then Nancy Drew.

Trixie Belden and the Indian Burial Ground Mystery; Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Galloping Ghost

Friday night and early this morning I read the last two Trixie Belden mysteries by Kathryn Kenny that I hadn't yet read. I read most of them when I was a kid, and I reread my favorites all the time. In the mid-eighties, Kenny wrote 5 more (originally she had stopped at 34), and I had trouble getting a hold of these because they are out of print and not that many were published. The Indian Burial ground has Trixie and her best friend, Honey, working on an archaeological dig on the Wheeler's estate, only it turns out that the professor in charge of the dig is really a thief who is after the Wheeler's valuable Renoir. The Galloping Ghost finds Trixie and Honey spending two weeks on a ranch in Minnesota, solving the mystery of a man who was wrongly accused of stealing and hanged a hundred years earlier.

Cancer Schmancer

On Friday I finished reading Fran Drescher's book "Cancer Schmancer" (taking a little break from football). What a terrible year she had! First a divorce from her husband/high school sweetheart, Peter. Then she finds out she has cancer and has to have a radical hysterectomy. Then her beloved dog of 19 years, Chester, dies. I think after a year like that I would have curled up in a little ball and died, but Fran bravely marches on. The really horrible, shocking thing is that it took 2 years and 9 doctors to diagnose her cancer. That's right 9 different doctors before she found one who almost by accident stumbled upon the right answer. Now, look, I know being a doctor is tough. I know you get a lot of hypochondriacs in there who think every symptom is a sign of a terminal disease. But they should listen to people more. We know our own bodies. We know when something isn't right. We should be taken more seriously. It's sad...imagine if she had listened to doctors 1-8 that it was nothing. She would probably be dead right now. What a scary thought.

The Dark Side of the NFL

On Wednesday I finished reading "The Dark Side of the NFL" by Tim Green. He played for 8 years in the NFL as an Atlanta Falcon, and I found his book to be very interesting. He obviously loves the game, and is grateful that he got to play pro for so many years, but he doesn't deny the dark side of it, and tells about the drug abuse, the salary cap, and the problems with the doctors without pulling any punches, but at the same time thinks that the NFL is wonderful and knows how fortunate he and everyone else who plays is. It didn't seem like a slimy expose at all; rather, a story told from a man who loves the game and knows that like everything else in life, it isn't perfect.

Remember This Titan: The Bill Yoast Story

This morning I finished reading "Remember this Titan: the Bill Yoast Story" as told to Steve Sullivan. Yoast was one of the coaches immortalized in the movie (which I haven't yet seen) called "Remember the Titans", about a high school football team in 1971 at a new integrated high school that had an undefeated season, and supposedly pulled the racially split town together. While I enjoyed the book, it was very funny, I was a little disappointed that he didn't discuss the team he coached that year some more. He barely mentioned football at all. Still, he seems like a great guy, the kind you wouldn't mind having as a dad or grandfather.

Pros and Cons: Criminals who Play in the NFL and My Life and Times: Sayers

Yesterday I finished reading two books, "Pros and Cons: Criminals who Play in the NFL" by Jeff Benedict and Don Yaeger (who co-wrote Walter Payton's autobiography). Two of my favorite things: true crime and football! It was very fascinating to see how criminals are treated in the NFL. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for giving people second chances, but when it gets to ridiculous measures like it has, then the line has to be drawn somewhere. These guys are supposed to be role models, after all. Thankfully, Green Bay has not harbored any serious criminals.
I also read Gale Sayers' autobiography, "My Life and Times: Sayers". Like Payton, he was a great player for the Chicago Bears, and broke and set a lot of records in a few short years. Unlike Payton, however, his book came off as a lot of sour grapes. He mentions the fact that back when he played (1965-1971), players didn't make much money, not like they do now. He kept pointing out that he wasn't bitter, which just reminded me of Shakespeare's "methink he doth protest too much". It was still an interesting story of one player's experience in the NFL during that time, it's just unfortunate that he chose to dwell on so much negativity.

Defusing the Angry Patron

This morning I finished reading "Defusing the Angry Patron" by Rhea Joyce Rubin. Not like it helps all that much, the tips she gives, but I try anyway. It's terrible when you try to help people who are rude and ungrateful all day long for a living. It makes you really start to hate life.
I need a vacation...

Never Die Easy

Last night I finished reading Walter Payton's autobiography "Never Die Easy". Payton was a great football player (even if he did play for the Chicago Bears), and a wonderful human being who loved all of humanity and took good care of his family, friends, and fans. He had a wonderful attitude and outlook on life, and I'm trying desperately to remember all that he said and incorporate it into my life. He died at the age of 45, just 11 months after finding out that he needed a liver transplant, and then finding out that he had cancer so he didn't qualify for a transplant any longer. But because his liver was so weak, he couldn't fight the cancer. He knew he was going to die, and he never complained; he was just grateful for the days he had. What a brave individual. This was a great book and it made me cry. It also makes me question God. Sincerely, we need more Walter Paytons and less child molesters/serial killers/general creepy jerks in this world. Why take a great man like him in his prime who could have done so much more for humanity? What are we suppossed to learn from this? That life isn't fair? Trust me, we already know.
On a totally unrelated note: (we are losing a lot of great authors lately) RIP Ira Levin, of "The Stepford Wives" fame. He also wrote "Sliver" (which was made into a not-so-great movie with Sharon Stone). The book, however, was pretty good and I recommend it.

Mister B. Gone

Last night I finished reading "Mister B. Gone" by Clive Barker. It was pretty awful. First of all, Barker is not the type of person you read if you want plot or interesting characters: he's all about the gore and the gross-out, which this book didn't even do. It's the story of a demon pulled up from the 9th level of Hell in the 1300s who spends 100 years or so wandering the earth before showing up at Gutenberg's house and being trapped in a book by his printing press. Huh? Exactly. And I don't think he had an editor proofread it or anything, there were so many continuity errors it was ridiculous for a 250 page book with one main character. All through the book, Mr. B (the demon) urges the reader to stop reading. I wish I would have listened. Very disappointing.

Next Man Up

Last night I finished reading "Next Man Up" by John Feinstien. He hung out with the Baltimore Ravens during the 2004 season, and reported on the every little day decisions that are involved with running an NFL team. It was really interesting, and amazing to me how much the players and coaches bounce around from team to team. I mean, I already sort of knew about the players from watching football for the last 10 years. They would introduce someone and I would think, hey, didn't they play for someone else last year? But I never realized how prevalent it is. It was a good book; I enjoyed it, and after watching football for nearly 11 hours straight yesterday, I can honestly say I am still not tired of football books. I am, however, running out of ones to read.
On a totally unrelated note: RIP Norman Mailer. If you've never read "The Executioner's Song", I highly recommend it.

Rozelle and You Can Lead a Politician to Water But You Can't Make Him Think and Dave Barry's History of the Millennium So Far

Okay, last night I finished reading "Rozelle" by Jeff Davis, a wonderful biography about the NFL's greatest commissioner. He served from 1960-1989, and made pro football what it is today. The book technically just wasn't about Pete Rozelle; it was about the NFL in general (for example, one chapter dealt with the famous Ice Bowl game, which Rozelle was not even at; he was in Oakland watching the Raiders/Houston Oilers game), but that's okay. It was interesting and well researched and no, I am not done reading football related books yet!
After I finished "Rozelle" I read Kinky Friedman's latest "You Can Lead a Politician to Water but You Can't Make Him Think". The Kinkster ran for Governor of Texas in 2006, and sadly lost (I would have voted for you, Kinky!!). I love Kinky's humor books: he's funny and makes a lot of sense. I think he would have been a great governor, but I'm glad he's still writing (his previous one before this one said he would stop if he was elected). Well, his mysteries aren't all that great: I read one and wasn't impressed. Anytime an author uses themselves as a character in their fiction it is just weird (somewhere in Florida Stephen King's ears are burning). It was a fun, lighthearted humor book, just what I needed for some laughs.
Then this afternoon I read Dave Barry's latest "Dave Barry's History of the Millennium So Far". I love Dave Barry; he's hilarious. And his fiction is good, too! But anyway, this book wrapped up the last 6 years. It's amazing how much you forget (anyone remember Elian Gonzalez, the little Cuban boy whose Florida relatives didn't want him sent back? I had totally forgotten). He is a total equal opportunity offender, unlike some so-called humorists that are popular now. I needed the laughs, and Barry provided.

The Moonstone

Today I finished reading "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins. It was a really suspenseful mystery, not terribly believable, but for the time (the 1850s) it would have been. Still, I really liked the butler who narrated the first part of the book, and all the narrators had great personalities that shone through the writing. It was an interesting book showing how old-fashioned mysteries in the vein of Sherlock Holmes are written.

Louder than Words

Last night I read Jenny McCarthy's "Louder than Words", about her autistic son, Evan. Autism fascinates me; I think it's because no one's really sure what causes it and there are so many different forms that some treatments work for some kids but not for others. She has chosen to share her story with us in hopes of educating everyone on how widespread this disease has become. It's truly shocking: 1 out of every 150 children will be diagnosed with autism. To me, this is totally unacceptable. We need to take a more aggressive stance and really put some research money into discovering what causes this and how to better treat it. Luckily for Jenny, diet and therapy have done wonders for Evan, and I was glad to hear it. As someone who hopes to have children someday, this is definitely a cause for concern.

America's Game

Yesterday I finished reading "America's Game" by Michael MacCambridge. It was about--you guessed it--pro football and how it has surpassed baseball to become America's best loved sport. Why do I like football better? While I enjoy watching baseball in person, on TV it just isn't as exciting. There's something primitive about football: watching grown men slam each other into the mud. In a world of Oprah-tized men who are encouraged to show their "feelings", football takes us back to their cave men like roots, and I must admit, I like it. Maybe it's not politically correct, but it's true. And this was a great book about great men playing a great game, full of fun details and interesting tidbits.

Don't Bet Against Me!

This morning I finished reading "Don't Bet Against Me!" by Deanna Favre, wife of Green Bay Packer's amazing quarterback Brett. She recently battled breast cancer, and was brave enough to share her private pain with us in the hopes of educating other women about this disease. I always thought Deanna was very lucky to have Brett, but now I realize it's the other way around. I hope he thanks God every day for that woman, because she's something great. I really enjoyed this book, full of hope and love.

Jude the Obscure

Today I finished reading "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy. Irving mentioned Hardy so much in "A Prayer for Owen Meany" that I decided to read something by him. This was a very sad book, and in part 6 came a horrible twist I didn't see coming a mile away (although I probably should have). Basically, the main character, Jude, and his cousin/love, Sue, never find contentment and happiness, and this book is a story of their struggle not only to do the "right" thing based on the morals of the day, but also to just be happy. It was an easy read, but very depressing.

NFL's Greatest

This morning I finished reading "NFL's Greatest" by Phil Barber. It was basically a collection of NFL's 100 greatest players (in alphabetical order); 25 greatest teams (in chronological order); 25 greatest games (chronological order); and 25 greatest events (also in chronological order). It was a fun book of facts and trivia, with lots of great full color pictures. My appetite for football related books has only just been whetted. I want more!

The Marshall Story

This morning I finished reading "The Marshall Story", which was written by four different reporters. I have not yet seen the movie "We Are Marshall", but this book was written after the movie was filmed. I'm interested to see if they took as much dramatic license with this story as they did with "Friday Night Lights".
Anyway, while it was an interesting story, the subtitle was a bit misleading. It says "college football's greatest comeback". To me, a comeback is a year or two, right? Well, what happened at Marshall University was that in 1970 a very tragic plane crash killed most of the football team, coaches, and friends and fans. Now, this was not a winning team to begin with: they hadn't had a winning season in 5 years and in fact in 1969 had been kicked out of the MAC conference for shady recruiting practices. Marshall made the decision to try to rebuild the team, which was undoubtedly very difficult. They went on to have many, many losing seasons before they finally began winning again...in 1994! Twenty-four years after the plane crash. I'm sorry...does this qualify as a comeback? Really? Once they started winning, they won big, and it was an uplifting and inspiring story. I just think that it's a stretch to call it a great comeback. Give any team a quarter of a century and they can rebuild their team, no matter what has happened to them. A lot of great players played for Marshall in recent years, like Randy Moss (who has said publicly that the Marshall tragedy was no big deal--yikes). I remember when he first started playing for the Vikings. I always hated Vikings/Packers games because they always won against the Packers, and I hated that!! No denying he's a good player, though. With that being said--Go Green Bay!! (They're my team, have been since '97). Okay, I'm officially in full on football season mode. I wonder what else is out there that I can read pertaining to football...?

One Drop

On Saturday I finished reading "One Drop" by Bliss Broyard. It's a story about a young woman who finds out as her father is dying that he was partly black, but because he was so light skinned he lived, or, "passed", as white. She sets out to find her relatives that her father cut out of his life, and his friends from when he was younger, in a quest to discover for herself just how black she is. It turns out, not much, less that 20%. It was an interesting story, with a good overview of the history of race in the deep South. One of the things I liked best about it was, Bliss would question newly found cousins who had lived their whole lives as black as to what they would call her, and they would always say "Bliss" rather than "white" or "black" or "biracial". One of her father's old friends said he didn't understand why Anatole (her father) made such a big deal about race; everyone knew he was part black and didn't make a big deal over it or care. Does finding out at the age of 23 that your father was part black mean you're a different person than you thought you were? I don't think so. I do understand her frustration with her father for denying her the opportunity to know her relatives on his side of the family, but I understand where he was coming from. It was a different time (he was born in 1920), and unfortunately blacks were not treated as fairly as they should have been, and in some parts of the country, still aren't. One of the amazing things about this country is that no one is really purely one race or another anymore. We're all mixed up, and it makes us stronger. Mutts are always healthier than purebreds. If we all had our DNA tested like she did, I bet some of us would be pretty surprised when we learned the results! I'm curious myself as to how mine would turn out.

Jane Eyre

Today I finished reading "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. It was really good, easier to understand than Austen, I thought. I see how a lot of books have been influenced by her style and plot. It's a story of a orphaned girl who leaves an unhappy life at a boarding school and goes on to be a governess for a little girl at Thornfield Manor. While there, she falls in love with the owner of the manor and the little girl's guardian, Mr. Rochester. It was really a page turner. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, and Jane Eyre is an inspiring heroine.

Water for Elephants

This afternoon I finished reading "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I've wanted to read it for awhile now, but after my hairstylist Roni raved about it I knew I had to read it sooner rather than later, and I'm glad I did. It had a little more violence towards animals than I like to think about in it, but in the end justice is served. It's about a circus in the beginning of the Great Depression, featuring a wonderful elephant named Rosie. It would make a really great movie, and it had a nice, happy ending, which actually seemed plausible.

Friday Night Lights

Last night I finished reading "Friday Night Lights" by H. G. Bissinger. I love football: I love watching football, I love reading about football. This was a great story about a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, named the Permian Panthers, and their attempt to make it to the state championship in 1988. In a town like Odessa, there isn't much to look forward to except for football, and the Panthers would often draw crowds of up to 20,000 people on a Friday night. People would wait in line for two days to get tickets. To a high school football game. Can you even begin to imagine that? I can't. The pressure these kids were under is staggering. It's a compelling and gripping story, full of tension and obsession.

Getting Your Grant

On Sunday (I know, I'm a few days behind--sorry) I finished reading "Getting Your Grant: a how to do it manual for libraries" by Peggy Barber. Again, another school book (I have to read something for fun soon!!), but it was pretty interesting. The main thing, I think, to remember if you are applying for a grant is to ask for help. Everyone seemed to want to help everyone else write the grant, apply for the grant, etc. If I ever have to apply for a grant, I will ask for help.

Creating the Customer Driven Library

This morning I finished reading "Creating the Customer Driven Library" by Jeanette Woodward. Even though it was a recommended reading book for class, I found it interesting and informative. She has a lot of practical, thoughtful ideas on how to improve on what the library already does best without sacrificing its integrity. She suggests that libraries can learn a lot from what bookstores have done, but doesn't suggest that libraries turn into bookstores. After spending 5 years in bookstore hell, I heartily agree with this. I don't want the library to turn into a bookstore, and I don't think the loyal library patrons do, either. Why risk alienating our core clientele in the hopes of attracting others? It doesn't make sense to me.

Wise Blood

This morning I finished reading "Wise Blood" by Flannery O'Connor. It wasn't really long enough at 120 pages to be a book; more like a novella. I have read a lot of her short stories, but none of her books, and while talking with Jenn at the reference desk last Friday, she got me thinking about O'Connor and I decided to read some of her longer stories. This one was about a young man named Hazel who seems to deliberately make life harder for himself than it needs to be. It was full of shady characters, like his landlady who only wants to marry him for his government pension, and a zoo guard who seems creepy and evasive. O'Connor was influenced by Faulkner, and it shows. Reading O'Connor, like reading Faulkner, is like looking at an iceberg: you only see the tip and you have to figure out the rest. I liked it, and am looking forward to reading the rest of her work.

Faulkner's Oxford

Last night I finished reading "Faulkner's Oxford" by Herman E. Taylor. Taylor had the luck to grow up in Oxford, Mississippi, and knew Faulkner's stepchildren. This book was a collection of his memories of talking to the great writer, as well as what Oxford was like when he and Faulkner were young. You have to be a real Faulkner nut (like myself) to be interested in knowing more about the people and places that inspired Faulkner, but if you are, this was an interesting book with lots of pictures of what Oxford used to look like as well as what it did look like when Taylor published the book in 1990.

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Last night I finished reading "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. It was very good; I liked it a lot. I thought it was very interesting how Irving kept emphasizing how as an English teacher to high school students, John Wheelwright couldn't get them to understand how authors give hints in the beginning of books, and then Irving turns around and gave us hints all throughout the book as to how it would end. It was one of those books when you finish it, you have an "aha!" moment where everything ties together. I'm not a really big fan of putting so much negativity toward politics in a fiction book, especially since it really didn't help the plot much (as far as I could see; he could have left it all out and it wouldn't have made a difference. It just feels like he's trying to advance his own agenda) but other than that the characters were great (I wish I could hear Owen Meany's voice, just once), and the story was original and engaging.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Last night I finished rereading Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" in preparation for my library's Big Read kickoff this Friday. I haven't read this book in years, and had forgotten how good it is. Harper Lee is such a great storyteller; it's sad that she only had one book in her, but if you're going to write just one, then this is the one to be remembered for. Even though it took place almost 80 years ago (and was written almost 60 years ago), the issues are still just as relevant today. She really makes you see the world through many different perspectives, by listening to Atticus, Scout, Aunt Alexandra, Jem, and all the others. Atticus is a very wise man, and we would all do well to take a page out of his book.

The Water-Babies

Today I finished reading "The Water-Babies" by Charles Kingsley. It was very popular 150 years ago, when it was first published, but it reminded me of "Alice in Wonderland", which I didn't like, so, consequently, I really didn't care for this one. An abused little chimney sweep named Tom is turned into a water-baby, and lives in the water, having strange adventures with even stranger creatures. It's funny, because he wrote it as a mild reprimand to scientists who were not convinced by Darwin's theory of evolution. Since you weren't there, how can you know? was his basic argument, and that I totally agreed with, an saw it as applicable for today, with everyone all panicked and in an uproar about things that, honestly, they just don't know for sure. That is one lesson that will never be out of vogue. Even scientists don't know everything. No one does.

Promoting and Marketing the Library

Last night I finished reading "Promoting and Marketing the Library" by Benedict A. Leerburger. I'm taking Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations in school right now, and the professor suggested if we've had limited experience with marketing, to read as many books on the subject as we could. This was one of the few that I've been able to find so far, since I don't want to drive all the way to a CSU to check books out of an academic library. Even though it was published nearly 20 years ago (at least, the edition I have) it was still pretty relevant and interesting. Not the most exciting of subjects, I know, but necessary to have a good grasp of. There were even chapters on promoting academic and special collection libraries in addition to public ones. Plenty of good ideas to build on for my class, and I think, even though the book has been on the shelf in that library I checked it out of since 1992, I'm the first person to check it out, because it was in mint condition! A rarity for a library book of that age.

The Outsiders and The Camel Bookmobile

Yesterday I finished reading "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton. It is one of those teen classic books I always meant to read and just never got around to it until now. I must say, I wasn't very impressed with this book. Written 40 years ago, it seems very dated and unrealistic. The main characters are members of a "gang" (they don't like to think of it as such) and they say things like "golly", which, I mean, come on, let's face it, no 16 year old high school drop out greaser working at a gas station is going to say things like that. The 14 year old main character, Ponyboy, is reading "Gone with the Wind", once again, not terribly realistic. It would be a very unique 14 year old boy indeed who enjoys this book. The whole moral of the story (not to judge a book by its cover, basically) is presented in a corny and unconvincing way, and anybody reading it will spot the message a mile away. I honestly can't believe, with all the really great literature out there, that teachers still make kids read this in high school. No wonder so many teens think books are lame.
I also read "The Camel Bookmobile" by Marsha Hamilton, a really fun book about a librarian from New York who goes to Africa to deliver books by camel to natives living in the bush. She teaches them almost as much as they teach her, but unlike "The Outsiders", the lessons were subtle and realistically delivered, and the main characters were well written. It seems like an interesting job, but not one I would ever want! Too many mosquitoes for me, thanks. I would recommend this one, though, to anyone interested in a quick, interesting read.

IT

Last night I finished rereading Stephen King's "IT", which I consider the best book he's written. It was also the first book I ever read by him, all those 16 years ago. I love rereading good books; it's like visiting old friends. The characters in this book are so real, so vivid. I can't even say which one is my favorite, because I like them all. I love the way, in the last part, he switches between 1958 and 1985, right in the middle of a sentence. It produces such an air of confusion, really makes you feel what those poor characters in the book were feeling. I wonder if Mike being a librarian influenced me when I was a teenager first reading this book.

Sense and Sensibility

Yesterday I finished reading Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility". It wasn't bad; typical Austen humor and happy ending. It's the story of two sisters who each fall for a man who turns out to be toying with them because they are both promised to other women. Of course in the end everyone ends up with the men they are supposed to be with and all is well. It wasn't as good as "Pride and Prejudice", but maybe that's just because I love the movie so much.
On a totally unrelated note, today is the anniversary of William Faulkner's birthday. He was born on September 25, 1897.

Finn

Last night I finished reading "Finn" by Jon Clinch. When you had to read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain in high school or college, did you ever wonder about why Huck's father was such a jerk? No? Me neither, but apparently Jon Clinch did, and wrote a whole book on him. It was actually really great, and if you've read "Huck Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" it tied in so neatly with the plots from those books that there were moments when I actually said "Aha!" out loud. Very skillfully done, and quite an interesting take on one of America's most beloved and written about literary characters. Even the great William Faulkner took on Huck Finn in his last novel "The Reivers", which is very similar in theme. Anyway, this was a much needed break from nonfiction and a good read.

The Call of the Mall

Yesterday I finished reading Paco Underhill's "The Call of the Mall". This was one of the best nonfiction books I have read in a long time! He was informative and entertaining. It was a great look at how and why we shop, and it's amazing how much thought and planning goes into little things, like where the makeup counter is located in a department store. He highlights plenty of things he feels malls could do better, and takes us on a tour of some malls around the world. What I really liked was in Japan, they provide sinks outside of the restrooms in the food court areas, so people who just want to wash their hands before they eat don't have to crowd up the bathroom. What a fabulous idea! I will never look at shopping or malls the same way again.

Readings on William Faulkner

Last night I finished reading "Readings on William Faulkner", part of the Greenhaven Press Literary series on American authors. Different writers and critics contributed articles on Faulkner's work. I'm a huge Faulkner fan, so I'll read anything about him and his work. This was a great collection. There was even one critic who had a sympathetic view of Jason Compson from "The Sound and the Fury". I thought I was the only one in the whole world who liked Jason! All the other critics I've read and teachers I've had who have discussed this book have characterized Jason as the villain of the book. (I believe the real villain, if there is one, is Mrs. Compson--look what she did to her kids!) The only bad thing about reading something like this is now I want to go back and reread all of Faulkner's books, and I just don't have time right now. Ah, well, later.

Putin's Russia

So this morning I finished reading "Putin's Russia" by Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who was brutally gunned down in her apartment building elevator last October. Critics of Russian President Vladmir Putin believe he either ordered the hit because of her highly critical work on his lack of ethics, or that someone close to him did it as a present for the president, since she was murdered on his birthday. Either way, it was a very haunting book, like hearing her crying out from the grave. The tales of mass and rampant corruption in every system, murder, blatant injustice...very scary stuff indeed. It makes me grateful to be in America, where journalists and everyone else can be openly critical of leaders and not live in fear of being executed.

Introduction--Little People, Big Values

This is actually not my first blog: I had to set one up last spring for a class I took on web design. I think blogging is fun, even if nobody reads it. I've decided I will use my blog to discuss books I've read and liked (and boy, are there a lot of them!). This morning I read "Little People, Big Values" by the Roloff family. If you've ever seen them on TLC, you know they are the family of mixed average/little people: the parents and one of the four children are little people, the other three kids are average size. It was a nice little book (170 pages, I think) detailing why they believe in 11 core family values and how their beliefs have helped shape the success of their family. It was uplifting, and reminded me how lucky I am to be healthy and happy, and not to take things like that for granted. I think everyone needs a reminder now and again.