January 2012 Book Report

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and be a villain by Rex Stout

Yes, the title is all in lower case. That’s the way Mr. Stout did it. It’s from a quote by Shakespeare. I love the Nero Wolfe mysteries. This was a good little case involving a woman who had a radio talk show. One day, her special guest dropped dead while on the air. Poisoned! Whodunnit???

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The Love Nest and other stores by Ring Lardner

Not Ring Lardner Jr. but his father. Didn’t know he was a writer as well. Got this little paperback at one of the church rummage sales. Delightful bunch of stories. Written in 1926 and really brings back the flavor of a time long gone.

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Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

We saw the movie first, and I really enjoyed it. I’ll watch just about anything that Meryl Streep does. Knowing the movie was based on real events made it even more enjoyable. I came across the book in the bargain bin at WalMart. Marv actually found it first and showed it to me, and I put it in the cart. There wasn’t as much about Julia Child in the book as there was in the movie. And Miss Powell sure does love the ‘f’ word! She is a very talented writer, but her language was a bit off-putting. And she makes her hatred of Republicans come through loud and clear as well. I think I’ll stick with the movie.

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When My Baby Dreams by Adele Enersen

This is the book I mentioned in one of my “positive/thankful” posts. Ms. Enersen is a photographer and artist. She had a blog with a bunch of pictures where she created “dreamscapes” around her sleeping child. Unfortunately, someone stole those images and used them in unauthorized advertising and Ms. Enersen removed them from her blog. She put some of those pictures in a lovely little book that was just released. There weren’t as many pictures as I’d hope in this book. But that was the only disappointment. Maybe there will be other books forthcoming with more of the pictures. I hope so. This book would be a great baby shower gift.