BOOK REVIEW: Dirty Thirty

Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich (Series Crime Novel, 2023). Very prolific, Janet Evanovich has produced a number of crime series. Her most popular and well-known is undoubtedly the Stephanie Plum books, of which this is the latest. Besides the lighthearted tone and the ongoing development of the regular characters, this long-running series has a quirky […]

BOOK REVIEW: Starter Villain

Starter Villain by John Scalzi (light contemporary SF novel, 2023). What a delightful, playful yet intriguing send-up to the super-villain trope! Charlie isn’t just an ordinary guy. He’s pretty much a total failure at everyday life, even in his own opinion. He’s a divorced and unhappy substitute teacher who only real friend is a stray […]

BOOK REVIEW: Have I Told You This Already?

Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham (Humorous Essays, 2022). This is Graham’s 3rd book of humorous essays about aspects of the actress/writer/producer’s life experiences (she’s published one novel, as well). Not having read the other titles and knowing of her only from her screen work, I had no idea what to expect. […]

BOOK REVIEW: I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are

In this book, comic/actress/self-identified theater girl Rachel Bloom tells much of her life story in a series of often absurdly and side splittingly funny, sometimes darkly insightful, and occasionally quite painful essays. Predictably, Bloom often sets aside the simply narrative essay form in favor of such quirky techniques as creating a face-to-face debate between her […]

Windber Coffeehouse Nights: 13 June 2019

This week’s coffeehouse coincided with the official opening of Windber’s annual Miner’s Memorial Days, which honors local history and always climaxes on Father’s Day (which is this Sunday). I approached the evening in a very good mood. Having one of my short stories being published (in a hardcover anthology of SF/F for kids) and a […]

Windber Coffeehouse Nights: September 6, 2018

The owner/operator of the Grand Midway, Blair Murphy, had business that kept him from being on hand for much of this Thursday’s coffeehouse. Accordingly, he asked yours truly to pinch-hit for him. I agreed, of course–I mean, why not? Being paid a bit to attend my favorite place, where I’d be spending the evening regardless! […]

REVIEWED: Charmed Bones

Charmed Bones by Carolyn Haines (Supernatural Mystery Novel, 2018). The latest Sarah Booth Delaney novel (18th in the series, if I haven’t miscounted) is a fun, cozy mystery that blends a colorful Mississippi Delta setting with often playful supernatural elements, plenty of misdirection, some romance and the expected greedy and/or murderous evil doers who must be […]

REVIEWED: Unqualified

Unqualified by Anna Faris, with Chris Pratt and Rachel Bertsche (Humorous Memoir/Advice Book, 2017). This lighthearted, yet sincere book is a blend of good-natured humor, personal memoir and relationship-focused advice from actress Anna Faris. The title (and the book itself) is a spinoff from one of her current projects, a call-in podcast she co-hosts entitled Anna Faris […]

REVIEWED: Hell hath No Curry

Hell Hath No Curry by Tamar Myers (Cozy Mystery Novel, 2007). I was in the mood for some light reading and had no objection to an older title (but it was new to me and part of a familiar, delightful series I’ve enjoyed before). This one’s another of the pun-and-recipe-filled series of humorous cozy murder mysteries […]

REVIEWED: My Italian Bulldozer

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith. (Romantic Novel, 2016). I’m a big fan of McCall Smith’s charming No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, set in the small African nation of Botswana. This unrelated work, a one-shot published in the UK in 2016 and now available in the US, is almost as endearing–with enjoyable characters and […]