What It Is by Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry has authored a book that is half autobiography and half writers-and-artists guide. The biography doesn't recite dates, places, and names. Rather, she talks about teachers, others adults, and her peers who stifled or encouraged her creativity as an artist. Particular incidents, told in just a few words, are good examples of how to discourage creativity in a child.

The second part of the book is a workbook with specific exercises for writers and artists. This is all presented in Barry's graphic style, with drawings of sea monsters, monkeys, and self-portraits. A wonderful book that encourages creativity for all ages.

Murder on the Waterfront by Michael Jahn

Two ships are docked on Manhattan's west side waterfront. The ultramodern cruise liner Trinidad Princess is hosting a fundraiser for a conservative candidate for president. And on the shabby but chic Sevastopol Trader, a modeling agency is holding a launch party with supermodels and beautiful people to celebrate a new perfume.

Captain Bill Donovan, NYPD, and his retired cop/wife Marcie, attend the political get-together as representatives of the police department. But when they see more congenial friends on the Trader, they jump ship. And it's aboard the Trader that a body is discovered the next morning. The presidential candidate's top strategist was stabbed to death, and there are plenty of suspects.

Now that Donovan is a husband and father, a reader would expect him to slow his pace. Maybe he doesn't put himself in as much physical danger, but the suspense doesn't let up. Readers who enjoy Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series should try Jahn's bools. This one is eighth in the series.

Weddings can be Murder by Christie Craig

Katie Ray flushed her $8,000 engagement ring down the toilet by accident--or was it? She's having second thoughts about her wedding, and with good reason. Someone is kidnapping and killing brides who have hired an elite wedding planner. The wedding planner hired Private Investigator Carl Hades to investigate; police didn't take her claims seriously. When the planner is killed, Katie and Carl are trapped in a storeroom overnight. Sparks fly, and not just because the killer is going to burn the building down.

A mostly humorous romantic mystery.

Dead Men Don't Get the Munchies by Miranda Bliss

Annie, a bank teller who has a part-time job at Bellywasher’s, a local pub owned by her boyfriend Jim. Jim is offering cooking classes and Annie, who can’t boil water, is slated to be his assistant. During the first class one of the students, Brad Peterson, an obnoxious weasel with a capital W, is threatened by Annie’s friend Eve. And when Brad is murdered, Eve is the prime suspect. Of course, Annie has to investigate. Light and fluffy mystery.

Dead Man's Puzzle by Parnell Hall

In ten words or less: Sherry's in Africa; Cora bluffs her way through another investigation.

Review: Cora Felton is at loose ends with her niece Sherry on her honeymoon in Africa. Sherry had it all planned out for Cora--she left her a supply of crossword puzzles to fax to her editor, for few people know that Cora's a fake and that Sherry is the real Puzzle Lady.

But when an elderly man is found dead in a dilapidated shack, the Chief of Police brings Cora a puzzle the man had on his table. And what had been assumed to be a natural death turned into a murder, and as usual, Sherry's ex-husband is right in the middle.

Why bother? A reader might wonder why the police chief lets a nosy amateur push her way into every murder investigation in his jurisdiction, but Cora always manages to close the case--even when they're fifty years old. Always great fun!

January 2012 Books I've read

Wondering what to do with old books now that you have an ebook reader? Lisa Occhipinti, who sells her creations on etsy, shows how to turn volumes into clocks, a shelf, a lamp, a jewelry box, and irony of ironies, a Kindle keeper.

The Repurposed Library: 33 craft projects that give old books new life by Lisa Occhipinti
Good to Go: a guide to preparing for the end of life by Jo Myers
Cat Pay the Devil by Shirley Murphy
Double Take by Catherine Coulter
Charitable Body by Robert Barnard
You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled by Parnell Hall
Last Coincidence by Robert Goldsborough
Get It Together: organize your records so your family won't have to by Melanie Cullen
Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
Winter of Discontent by Jeanne Dams
Death on Deadline by Robert Goldsborough
Silver Spire by Robert Goldsborough