Book Talk

Life’s a journey, not a destination!

If you remember high school fondly, you missed something! Okay, no one put you in a locker and shut the door but…when the cheerleader smile you practiced in the bathroom mirror does NOT work on the class clown, when phys ed is torturous, when you don’t fall into the high school rule of “If you are a girl, be beautiful, if you are a guy, be athletic”, this book is for you. When I was a Loser: true stories of (Barely) Surviving High School, edited by John McNally, contains twenty-five essays about high school angst. Reminisce with the authors of the days of being astonishingly unpopular…

Faking It by Ethan Trex gives all sorts of advice for the recently graduated on how to appear more sophisticated than they really are. Included is a list of things NEVER to fake, like installing electrical wiring or delivering babies but everything else is fair game.

Donald Asher helps out with Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t, and Why: 10 Things You’d Better do if You Want to Get Ahead.  He includes the cardinal rule: always make your boss look good, and a little physics with the rule of suction. “When an object moves through any medium, it creates suction behind it.” Lesson: attach yourself to a superstar. A little cynical, but some of this book appeared in Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones publications.

The Bad Idea Catalog, by Chris Bittler and Dave Markov, is full of  inventions you can skip and you can be relieved that you didn’t think of. Tired of your job? Buy a can of “New Job Smell”. It’s the next best thing to a change. Need some Golf Ball Dip to rejuvenate those found golf balls? Need a status watch? For $10 you can get the designer watch of your choice. It doesn’t work, but who cares? If you think you have a great idea, check here first.

When planning your family vacation, you’ll want to check 101 Places not to Visit: your Essential Guide to the World’s most Miserable, Ugly, Boring and Inbred Destinations, by Adam Russ. Destinations are rated by levels of Boredom, Likelihood of Fatal Visit, Essential Packing and Most Likely cause of Death. Unfortunely, the less boring countries are often the most deadly.

Cozy mysteries are favorites around here and many of them have a gimmick which allows endless sequels. This month we have Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets. This is a new entry in the Dead-end Job series. Helen, a maid at the Florida Full Moon Hotel finds a compatriot dead in a dumpster. Murder means the cops and Helen is on the run…

Shelly Freydont has written The Sudoku Murder. Professor Avonable, founder of the Avondale Puzzle Museum is found murdered with a half finished sudoku puzzle in front of him. Of course the unfinished puzzle contains a clue to the murder.

Died in the Wool (a Torie O’Shea Mystery) by Rett MacPherson, has Torie, president of the local historical society poking around in a civil war era house reportedly full of rare artifacts. The house’s tragic history has repercussions in the present and Torie must uncover secrets to prevent a modern murder.

When Maisy Gaylor dies a horrible death in the middle of the Portsmouth Women’s Guild dinner, antiques dealer Josie Prescott must find the killer before her fledgling business is ruined. Deadly Appraisal is the sequel to Consigned to Death.

The Water Lily Cross is the latest addition in the English Garden Mystery Series by Anthony Eglin. Garden expert and would-be sleuth, Lawrence Kingston, investigates the disappearance of a botanist friend. Shortly before he vanished, the botanist had a major breakthrough with major financial repercussions.

Don’t forget that our Summer Reading Program is starting soon. You can pick up your reading packet beginning June 19.

Virginia Cooper
Adult Services Librarian
June, 2007