Recipes and Wooden Spoons; Needful Things; Lunatics; Cujo

Gah, I'm sure I'm forgetting one. Anyway... "Recipes and Wooden Spoons" by Judy Baer is a Grace Chapel Inn story. Jane is thrilled when she finds an old cookbook that belonged to her mother. She cherishes the notes her mother left in it and finds it to be a way to connect to the women she never knew. But her sisters are on her case about the operating expenses of the Inn, and things are tense until of course it all works out. There was a lot more praying in this one, I think maybe Baer is more keen on it than Melody Carlson. I'm rereading some Stephen King books I haven't read in a long time. I reread "IT" and "The Stand" fairly often, but I hardly ever dive into the others. I decided to make some time to do it, and grabbed "Needful Things". Man, is it good! There were a lot of things I'd forgotten about. In case you haven't read it (and why haven't you? Why are you reading this? Go read "Needful Things", I'll wait...) it's about Castle Rock, Maine. A new store comes to town called Needful Things. Its proprietor, Leland Gaunt, is all about making deals, and he seems to have a little something for everyone. Of course, things aren't really what they seem and the good citizens of Castle Rock are paying a heck of a lot more than they bargained for for those innocent little baubles and trinkets. "Lunatics" by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel was hilarious. Through a series of mishaps, Jeffrey and Philip (who hate each other) end up starting a revolution in Cuba, feeding starving refugees in Africa, and running for President of the United States under two different tickets. It was zany and wacky and lots of fun. I've always enjoyed Dave Barry's novels. "Cujo", another one in the parade of Stephen King masterpieces. I'd forgotten how good this one is. You know why it's good? Because there's nothing supernatural about it. It is something that very well could have happened (not today, probably, what with cell phones and all, but still). "Cujo" is about a rabid dog holding a woman and her little boy hostage in a Pinto. He times the tension perfectly in this, from having Donna gain hope that the mailman will save them, only to find out the Joe Cambers stopped the mail service. Then the arrival of Sheriff Bannerman, only to have the dog kill him, too. Every time a glimmer of hope pops up, rabid Cujo is there to snap it away. Brilliant.