QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I need to use my most important investigative tool--my library card."
Det. Robert Goren, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"

Way to go Bobby!

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Don’t cry for me, hot pastrami: A Ruby, the Rabbi’s wife, mystery

Author: Sharon Kahn

In ten words or less: Ruby solves a mystery aboard a cruise ship.

Review: Third in the series. Ruby is tricked into sailing on a cruise with members of her temple. How bad can a cruise be? Ruby finds out when the lecturer hired for the group is killed as he is about to board the ship. When she is exploring on shore, Ruby is attacked, knocked unconscious, and her camera is vandalized. If that is not bad enough, the sleazy, toupee wearing captain has it in his head that Ruby is romantically interested in him. Ruby manages to solve the mystery, with the help of an attractive investigative reporter.

Why bother? A breezy, humorous mystery that will not tax the grey cells, and offers some laughs to boot.

SASQUATCH CHIPMUNK

The chipmunk that was living under the deck has apparently gown too large for his quarters. He was seen diving under the siding on the house, and is probably living in the cellar. I hate to think of how many chipmunks are down there. I do not begrudge them a place to live, but their favored place seems to be behind the central air conditioning and near the electrical service box. I know they will chew through anything. So far live traps have not worked. The fox urine scent has not worked. I can't seal the openings until I am sure all the munks are out. Today the munk spent 45 minutes sitting on my deck scolding me for not refilling the safflower seed birdfeeder. When hell freezes over!

MY FORTUNE COOKIE FROM YESTERDAY

"You are never bitter, deceptive or petty."

All my co-workers had a good laugh at that one.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Team of Rivals

Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

In ten words or less: Biography of Lincoln and his rivals Seward, Chase, and Bates.

Review: Another Lincoln book? Over the past few years I have read Stephen B. Oates, “With Malice toward none,” other books on the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant, and other figures of the era. So by the time I picked up the Goodwin book, I was hearing the same anecdotes for the third or fourth time. Goodwin is an eminently readable author (“No Ordinary Time, “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream”) however, and she seems to have bounced back from the scandal of a few years ago. The focus of this volume is the political rivalry among William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates, who were also seeking the 1860 Republican presidential nomination. After losing to Lincoln, they all went on to serve in his cabinet.

Why bother? Exhaustive and well written biography of Lincoln’s life and his political rivals.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Mighty Fitz: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Author: Michael Schumacher

In ten words or less: Gripping tale of the legendary Lake Superior shipwreck.

Review: Twenty nine men died when the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Schumacher, who has written biographies of Allen Ginsberg, Eric Clapton, and Francis Ford Coppola, retells the story of the days leading up to the disappearance of the big ship. The official reports from the Coast Guard and other sources are at odds, and with no eyewitnesses to the sinking, the cause of the accident is still unknown. Gordon Lightfoot’s song kept the public interested in the Edmund Fitzgerald, and there were battles afterwards about recovering relics and taking photographs of the sunken wreck.

Why bother? Lots of local interest for readers in the Great Lakes area. Examines a mystery that has not been solved to this day. Young adults who don’t like fiction might be interested in this story.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Liberal in City Government: My Experiences as Mayor of Milwaukee

Author: Frank P. Zeidler

In ten words or less: Zeidler recalls his 12 years as Milwaukee's socialist mayor.

Review: Milwaukee has a long tradition of democratic socialism, and Frank P. Zeidler was elected mayor in 1948, as the socialists were on their last legs. He recounts the elections and the red baiting by opponents and the local media. Most of the book tells of the problems of the city versus the suburbs, during a time of economic growth. Suburbs fought annexation, though city services such as water and sewer were demanded.
Zeidler tells how the long hours and demands of the office took a toll on his health. He ran for president in 1976 on the Socialist Party USA ticket.

Why bother? Interesting to readers looking for an insider's view on Milwaukee politics and to those seeking a practical look at the effect a lone outsider can have in government.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Kenny Salwey's Tales of a River Rat: Tales of Trapping and Living on the Upper Mississippi River

In ten words or less: Thoughtful stories of life near the Mississippi river.

Review: Kenny Salwey was born in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. The rural county abuts the Mississippi River, and is a maze of swamp, bluffs, and backwater sloughs. Salwey combines poetry with tales of hunting and trapping in the river wetlands. His childhood memories include trying to avoid school whenever possible and learning about skunk cabbage from his father. Trout fishing, canoe paddling, and morel mushroom picking are the subjects of some of Kenny's stories. His stories are thoughtful and well written, and respectful of nature.

Why bother? For readers who love stories of nature and wildlife.

FILM REVIEW

The Whole Wide World

"To make life worth living a man or a woman has to have a great love or a great cause...I have neither."--Robert E. Howard

A film festival favorite of 1996, "The Whole Wide World" is the story of Robert E. Howard, pulp fiction writer, and school teacher Novalyne Price. Howard (Vincent D'Onofrio) was the author of the Conan, Kull, and Red Sonja stories that ran in such magazines as "Weird Stories." As the film opens, he is living with his parents--his father is a physician and his mother is sickly, possibly from tuberculosis. Robert spends his time writing and attending to his mother's needs.
Novalyne (Renee Zellweger) is a feisty young teacher who dreams of becoming a writer. When she hears that a published writer, Robert Howard, lives in town, she phones him, but he doesn't return her calls. She gathers up the courage to call on him, and so begins a complicated relationship. Though only a couple of kisses are exchanged on screen, it is a relationship filled with passion, humor, pain, and regret. The dusty 1930s Texas landscape adds to the visual setting.
Zellweger and D'Onofrio are terriffic! This is a gem of a film.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Multitude of Mercies

Author: Fay Freimuth

In ten words or less: Portrait of how a schizophrenic woman's disease affects her family.

Review: Freimuth's novel is dedicated to her sister, who suffered from schizophrenia. It is the story, simply told, of two sisters--Nancy and Laura. Nancy is married, mother of two, and is expecting her third child. Laura, who has been hospitalized for schizophrenia, is struggling to support herself and get a college degree. Laura's illness affects her entire family--her parents, her grandmother--and leads her to get involved with a series of abusive men.
I don't know how much of this book is based on the author's real life experience, but it reads as if it was a journal kept to record all the painful moments of this part of her life.

Why bother? A worthwhile read--no gimmicks here--just pain, disappointment, and hope.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Venom Beneath the Skin: a Romilia Chacon Novel

Author: Marcos M. Villatoro

In ten words or less: FRI agent Romilia investigates the death of a fellow agent.

Review: FBI agent Chip Pierce is bludgeoned to death with his own prosthetic leg, only hours after fellow agent Romilia Chacon turns down his marriage proposal. The Los Angeles police and the FBI believe the killer is the elusive drug lord Tekun Uman. Only Romilia believes another is responsible, but the Bureau discounts her theory. The Feds accuse her of being personally involved with the Uman.

Several other books have featured female law enforcement officers, involved with criminals, including Elmore Leonard's "Out of Sight," and Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs." Romilia's family life is what makes this book different; her mother Celia and Uncle Chepe came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. Sergio, her son, read books and plays soccer.
Third in a series.
Why bother? A latina protagonist sets this mystery apart.

BIRDS IN THE YARD

This has been a wet, rainy weekend. For most of yesterday, a morning dove sat on my deck, no doubt eyeing my flower pots as a place to put a nest. This morning a pair of goldfinches were flying around the lilac bushes. I've got seven different lilacs in my relatively small yard, and I love this time of year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read."--Abraham Lincoln

CRANBERRY BEANS (RECIPE)

1 can New England style baked beans (19oz)
1 6oz. can cranberry jelly, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 medium onion, chopped

Mix together and put in a casserole dish. Bake uncovered 46-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

FILM REVIEW

Title: Salton Sea

Thoroughly repellent film about meth dealers. Danny Parker, a jazz trumpeter, loses his wife in a violent murder. Danny then becomes a meth freak and is dealing for a large amount of meth, but is he also ratting out the dealers to the cops? Don’t know, don’t care.
I should have known there was no where to go but down when I saw that Val Kilmer was starring. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him do justice to a role—“Red Planet” was okay, but anyone associated with “The Island of Dr. Moreau” should have their Equity card ripped to shreds. I got the film because Vincent D’Onofrio was in it, but he played an even more repellent character than Kilmer. But in D’Onofrio’s case, I think it was the physically nastiness of the part that put me off, not his acting. The lowlight of the film was when the meth dealer (D’Onofrio) was going to torture Parker (Kilmer). The henchmen pulled down Parker’s pants and shoved a cage with a hungry badger (wolverine?) against his crotch. When you’re on the side of the badger, you know it’s time to call it quits

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Why buy a book when you can join a library?--Ricky Gervais

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Endless forms most beautiful: the new science of evo devo

Author: Sean B. Carroll

In ten words or less: Evolutionary biology explained for the masses.

Review: Evo devo--evolutionary developmental biology--explores how form and pattern emerge in empryos, and begins to explain how primitive forms of millions of years ago developed into today's diverse animal kingdom.
Although Carroll, who teaches genetics at the University of Wisconsin, has presented a great deal of technical information, even readers who have only a casual knowledge of genetics and evolution can appreciate this book. Typical chapter titles are: "From e.coli to elephants." "Monsters, mutants, and master genes," and "Making babies: 25,000 genes, some assembly required."
Readers of Stephen Jay Gould will find this a fascinating explanation of genetic evolution.

Why bother? Readers interested in nature and natural history will find much to delight and ponder.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: University of Wisconsin Football

Author: Dave Anderson

In ten words or less: Photos of Badger football history

Review: Written by a fan of Univeristy of Wisconsin football, this book is mostly photos of players, old programs, and other Badger memorabilia. There's only about half a dozen pages of text.

Why bother? For UW football fans only.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Grant

Author: Max Byrd

In ten words or less: Civil War vet and reporter covers the 1880 presidential campaign.

Review: This historical novel covers the final years of the life of Ulysses S. Grant, former Civil War general and 18th president of the United States. Reporter Nat Trist, a Union veteran who lost an arm at Cold Harbor, is assigned to cover the 1880 election. Grant, just returned from a world tour, and the most celebrated man in America, is rumored to be considering a run for an unprecedented third term. The author brings to life Grant and his contemporaries, including William T. Sherman, Henry Adams, and Mark Twain.

Why bother? Very good glimpse at life inside American politics in the 1880s.

BOOK REVIEW (Audiobook)

Title: Napalm and Silly Putty

Author: George Carlin

In ten words or less: Exerpts from Carlin's book, read by the author.

Review: Carlin asks the usual questions, such as "If people climb Mount Everest because it's hard to do, why do they go up the easy side?" and "If there are really multiple universes, what do they call the thing they're all part of?" he wonders why housing for the homeless can't be built on golf courses. He uses BAD WORDS--you know the one's I mean.

Why bother? I listened to this at work, and I laughed. 'Nuff said.