Dress Like Stephanie Plum for Halloween!

Actually, you could dress like any character in the Numbers Series by Janet Evanovich! I created a cute (at least I think so) article on Squidoo about how one could have a Have a Plum Spooky Halloween!

Cool jacket, isn't it? Would look good on Stephanie Plum!

Book Care

If you follow me on Squidoo you will already know that I really love the book -- as an object to hold and touch. (I do not presently own a Kindle-like device, but am considering acquiring one.)

Because my children know that my goal in life is to "Save the World--one book at a time!", I am constantly being given books to repair by my oldest daughter. She has three children, two of them little boys under the age of 6 who have not learned that one should be gentle when reading a book. Mostly I repair torn pages that appeared mysteriously in an oft read book. How they got there, no one seems to know. (LOL)

I like to keep up with my online competition so I often search the web using the terms "book care" and "book repair". Just today during such a search, I found this interesting page on AbeBooks Rare Book Room that has a few tips on caring for your real books. The information is provided by Brodart, a company that I use for my supplies. They are to be trusted. Go check it out after you visit my Book Care and Repair page.

Thanks in advance.


I think a Kindle would be easier on the eyes than an iPad. I know that my eyes get tired after I have been staring at the computer screen for too long.

Smokin' Seventeen is keeping my attention!

Books that won't give you the willies!

I have had trouble finding non-violent, enjoyable audio mysteries lately! I am tired of listing to books that have despicable subjects like snuff films and child abuse. I just want an intelligent mystery book to listen to that develops the characters and has a plot!

Unfortunately, I think that this trend for "shock" is permeating everything that I used to find enjoyable. Take for instance the TV series "Bones". For the last few seasons I have noticed that the gelatinous bodies have been getting more screen time than Temperance Brennan. Why do we need to see a close up of the gross decomposing body for 5 seconds more? Can't we just see the facial expressions of the actors to let us know that it is horrible? Why do the producers and writers have to imprint a gross image in our head? Maybe the story line is lacking or the actors did not come to work that day.

I remember watching the original film noir Cat People and being frightened out of my head. The movie viewer never actually sees the stalking panther, but we heard it and sensed that the person being stalked was frightened out of their gourd! The film maker used the philosophy that what is in our imagination can be more frightening that what actually is seen.

I recently created A Cozy Mystery List for like-minded readers. I like a mystery novel to be long on plot and character development and short on the gross-out factor. There are enough unpleasant things going on in the world today.

From that list, I highly recommend Murder on a Girls' Night Out (Southern Sisters Mysteries). I have read the book and listened to the audio version of this mystery novel and find Ms. George an extremely satisfying author.

Have fun finding a new author.  You might consider the following books for your summer reading:

The Girl in the Green Raincoat

My husband and I really enjoy listening to audiobooks when we are in the car--especially when going on a long road trip. Recently, I got my mitts on The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel.

We thoroughly enjoyed listening to this short novel by Laura Lippman. It was perfect for a road trip: not too distractingly complicated yet has an intriguing plot! This novel was originally written in installments (like Dickens) in the NY Times. Now it is published in book form (and audio) for those of us non-subscribers.

Ms. Lippman is probably one of my very favorite authors and there are many reasons why. First of all, she has a great character in her female detective, Tess Monaghan. Tess definitely rivals Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone whom I absolutely adore. Both fictional women detectives are very likeable and believable, too. Thank goodness there are lots of books in the series that Lippman and Grafton write. FYI: I would recommend that one reads the Tess series in the order written. That is not so necessary with the Alphabet books by Grafton. Both authors' books have gotten better with each addition to the two series.

Lippman also writes novels that are not "Tess" books, too. Most of the books are set in or near Baltimore, Maryland. I have visited there and lived in that part of the USA, so I can identify with locations. I also enjoy reading another Baltimore fiction author, Anne Tyler. Lippman is not Ms. Tyler, but her talent grows with each and every novel she writes. I recently wrote an article on Squidoo about I'd Know You Anywhere that was published this past winter. It is an absorbing story about how a victim of a notorious childhood kidnapping faces the impending death of her abductor. This convicted murderer contacts his only surviving victim and "plays" with her emotions. A great read by any standards. The good news is, there are many more Laura Lippman novels you can read that are equally intriguing!

If you would like to read my review then click Novel Songs from "I'd Know You Anywhere".

Good reading to ya!

A Book to Read on a Lazy, Cloudy Winter Day: Fifty Grand by Adrian McKinty

Today is Friday. The past few days have been a blessing of sunshine which we have used to the max. Planting and playing outside with the grandkids. But today willbe spent inside on the MacBook examining some of my articles on Squidoo. That platform is a passion of mine. I am not a top lensmaster (writer) on that site, but I have passable performance with my lenses (articles or pages).

Some of my best lenses ("best" in my opinion) are not getting the traffic that I would like. One of them is Fifty Grand: a novel of suspense, a review of a book by author Adrian McKinty. The novel is very well written (I think it reads a lot like Hemingway) but, obviously my book review is not up to par. I have made no sales from this lens, so I have not convinced anyone to read Mr. McKinty. That is a shame because I feel that he is one of the best fiction authors writing today.

I originally began reading McKinty because of his connection to Denver, Colorado. When I discovered the novel The Dead Yard, the author was living in the Mile High City. I love that town, so I read the book. I fell in love with the main character, Michael Forsythe and read the "Dead Trilogy" McKinty created using this character as its cornerstone. Read this trilogy in order they were written, please.

After finishing those three mystery books, I read another novel, Hidden River, McKinty wrote before the Michael Forsythe series; it, too, was set in Colorado. Maybe it is not a best seller, but I found it intriguing and well written. It also displayed McKinty's marvelously light, but dark, sense of humor. Here is a summary of Hidden River from the publisher:


The electrifying noir thriller from a major new talent, in which a young Irish ex-cop travels half a world away to investigate the murder of a beautiful girl he once loved, and whose peculiar sexual banter he will later have urgent reason to recall -- if he is to survive.

Sounds like a good read, doesn't it? I think it is.

When Fifty Grand: A Novel of Suspense was published I was ecstatic! I had high expectations for this read and was not disappointed. Please go check out my Squidoo Lens and give Fifty Grand a thumbs up.

New Patricia Cornwell

Just got the newest Scarpetta book today at the library. I am so hoping that it is good. I was going to take my name off the "Book My Favorites" for Cornwell because I have been VERY disappointed in the last two novels. BUT I read a review of the new one and it sounds like Ms. Cornwell is back on track. We shall see.

Here is a link to the new novel mentioned:Port Mortuary (A Scarpetta Novel)

Have been busy publishing "Holiday Gift Guides" on Squidoo. Need to make one for books. So far I have 8 guides. Here is a link to the collective list for those Holiday Gift Guides: Mickie_G's Gift Guides. Go check them out. There is still time to order online!