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The Five-Star Weekend Is So Much More Than a Book
To quote a wise man, I have taken my first step into a larger world. How It Started My wife has read nearly every book Elin Hilderbrand has written. Back five, six years ago, I even created a list on my phone with the books we had so that if I found myself at a bookstore and I happened upon one of her books, I knew which ones we owned. Heck, we even went to an event where we got to meet her and get her autograph. Recently, I checked out Hilderbrand’s latest, The Five-Star Weekend, from the library and, predictably, my wife flew through the pages. A couple of…
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Books That Pack a Real Emotional Punch Are Rare
When was the last time a book delivered an emotional response? One of my science fiction book club guys texted me earlier this week. He had finished a book that he admitted wasn’t great, but the sad ending actually touched him. He recalled the book REDSHIRTS by John Scalzi as one about which I very much had an emotional response. Heck, that response smacked me in the face so much so that I could barely relate the ending of the book to my wife without bawling. Later, when the book club met, I still was rather emotional in explaining why I loved the book so much. My friend remarked that…
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How to Ignite Your Inner Fire During Midlife
I’m not sure how many folks might need to read Chip Copley’s Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age, but I certainly did. Now, before we go any further, I must say that I am not going through a midlife crisis. At all. Most people who see me ask me why I’m always smiling or be-bopping to a song I hear in my head. I’m an optimistic, happy person. Have been for as long as I can remember. But this book ignited something in me. I refer to my current age as “fifty f*cking five!” so you know where I am in life. It’s true…
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How Do You Select and Read The Books You Read?
I’m a book nerd. You too? Yeah, it’s great, huh. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a ton of To Be Read lists on my various devices and literal piles here at my house. I’m always reading blogs to see what’s new. I read articles about new books and keep adding them to my lists. On Facebook, the algorithms are primed to send me sponsored ads by authors or publishing companies promoting books they think I’d like. Sometimes, I strike gold. Others times, not so much. When it comes to consuming and actually reading these stories, I rely on both reading (on my Kindle or hard copy) as…
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There Are Too Many Books and Too Little Time. Now What?
It started with The Six Million Dollar Man. A few weeks ago, I learned that the debut of one of my favorite childhood TV shows occurred fifty years ago. With that in mind, I thought about going back and rewatching the series, this time with adult eyes, and see how it holds up. When I got to the Peacock, I realized there were 99 episodes. I don’t have time for that, so I went to Google and conducted a search of the Top 10 episodes of the show. Thankfully, the Bigfoot episodes are in there as well as a few crossovers with The Bionic Woman (weren’t those epic episodes!). Now,…
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Duane Swierczynski Talks Moving Backstory of New Novel in Return to Houston’s Murder by the Book
It’s been nine years since Philadelphia native Duane Swierczynski had a book signing at Houston’s Murder by the Book. In fact, as he told the folks who turned out last Friday night, this store was the site of his first book signing. What he appreciated, he told us, was how much the store had not changed. He, on the other hand, has. Swierczynski is the author of over a dozen novels, numerous short stories, and quite a few comics. He is married and is the father of two children. One, however, his daughter, Evelyn, was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2018. Swierczynski and his wife took turns spending the night…
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Can Anyone Get Away With Murder? Here Are Eight Answers
The last book I read in 2023 was the Christmas novella, The Christmas Guest, by a new-to-me writer, Peter Swanson. I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday-themed story—and the twist—that I wanted to read another novel by the author. So the first book of 2024 I read was another Swanson book. But where to start? How about a novel featuring famous literary murders? Eight Perfect Murders is Swanson’s sixth novel. It stars Malcolm Kershaw, the owner of a mystery bookstore in Boston. In first-person POV, Malcolm tells us the story of how an FBI agent, Gwen Mulvey, comes to ask Malcolm for his insight into a few murders that may or may…
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My Favorite Books of 2023
One of the things I did in 2023 that really helped me remember what I read was my notecard habit. For everything I watched or read, I wrote down my thoughts on a 4×6 lined index card along with the date. I particularly appreciated the finite space of an index card. Granted, sometimes I’d write a review for a blog and the notecard would be “See blog” but those times were rare. Lots of Comics I ended up reading quite a bit in 2023. Now, one of the things that really helped bump up the total was my decision in the summer to read a comic book per day from…
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New Nightwing Creators Remember Comics Can Be Fun Yet Deep
That image. A single splash page is all it took for me to put the current Nightwing run over at DC Comics on my radar. And oh boy am I glad I did. A fellow writer posted it on Facebook about a month ago and I was captivated by the art, the simultaneous classic and modern style. The artist is Bruno Redondo and he has teamed up with writer Tom Taylor to have a run at Nightwing. And what a run (so far). Comics Are Not Supposed To Make You Cry…Right? Luckily, my local library has the first three volumes of the Taylor/Redondo Nightwing books and I eagerly checked them…
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The 1970s Come Alive in the Highly Entertaining Lowdown Road
Look at that cover. Hard Case Crime might be the only publisher in this century who remembers how great painted covers used to be. This cover looks like a long-lost book you’d have found on the paperback spinner rack at the 7-Eleven in 1975 as you clutched a Slurpee in your hand, your favorite hero painted on the white, plastic cup. Or its the novelization to a 1970s movie you’d see at the drive-in. The cover was pretty much all I needed to see to know this was a book I wanted to read. The plot was just icing on the cake. Let me see if I can boil it…