THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

Megan came out for two days. It was nice to have her around although for too short a time. We saw a rather bad movie, she installed Roku for us so we could get Filmstruck on our TV, we celebrated Josh and Julie's 23rd anniversary, went out for three good restaurant meals and ate Arab food at home. We found a terrific new takeout place in a gas station. Am still hunting for a book to read.

Megan will shoot the pilot for DARE ME in August / Sept. Her new book GIVE ME YOUR HAND has been purchased by AMC and YOU WILL KNOW ME by Marti Noxon so lots of excitement for Megan.

Finished watching SAFE on Netflix and found it disappointing. Hate it when too much comes out at the end. Although I thought there was some nice moments and good acting.

Is there anything prettier than a redbud in bloom?

So what are you up to?

Friday's Forgotten Books, May 18, 2018

 THE LAST GOOD KISS, James Crumley 

Crumley’s detective hero/antihero is C.W. Sughrue,is  a war veteran who handles low-level P.I. jobs like spying on wayward spouses for divorce cases or locating deadbeats for bill collectors. While tracking down a troublesome author named Trahearne for the man’s ex-wife, Sughrue takes on a second job locating a missing daughter.
Tracking down Betty Sue is the main plot point that drives the novel forward, but it’s Trahearne, that makes the novel fun to read. When the two men strike up an odd friendship and Sughrue’s hired to find Betty Sue, Trahearne cajoles Sughrue into letting him tag along.
Sughrue often takes a backseat to both Traherne and to the beer-swilling bulldog Fireball.
The real star of the book, however, is the prose, the setting, the atmosphere. Lots of fun.

Brian Busby, GANG OF FOUR
CrossExaminingCrime, SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, James Runcie
Martin Edwards, MYSTERY AT OLYMPIA, John Rhode
Richard Horton, The Stars are Ours!, by Andre Norton/Three Faces of Time, by Sam Merwin, Jr.
Jerry House, NOT THIS AUGUST, C.M. Kornbluth
George Kelley,  THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES: 1951 Edited By E. F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty
Margot Kinberg, SILENT SCREAM, Angela Marson
Rob Kitchin, PARIS, TROUT, Pete Dexter
B.V.  Lawson, THE DEATH OF A CELEBRITY, Hulbert Footner
Evan Lewis, THE MALTESE FALCON COMMISSION, Frank McAuliffe
Steve Lewis/David Vineyard, THE SPOOK HILLS MYSTERY, B.M. Bower 
Todd Mason,  FANTASTIC STORIES, August 1976, edited by Ted White; THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, August and September 1976, edited by Edward Ferman 
J.F.Norris, THE CROSS OF FRANKENSTEIN, Robert J. Myers
Matt Paust, A FAR, FAR BETTER THING, Jens Soering and Ted Sizemore
James Reasoner, HOT LEAD FOR GLEAMING RAILS, Van Cort
Richard Robinson, What I Read, Part 4
Gerard Saylor, SPECIAL FORCES BERLIN, James Stejskal
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, THIEVES'S DOZEN, Donald E. Westlake
TomCat, DEAD MAN TWICE, Christopher Bush
TracyK, GOLDFINGER, Ian Fleming

Forgotten Movies:A VACATION FROM MARRIAGE

Deborah Kerr and Robert Donat play two naive people who marry without much in common. The war breaks out and both of them enlist. (She in the Waves). Their wartime service changes them into more independent people and also adults. When the war ends, both are convinced their marriage is over based on what they know about their partner.

Alexander Korda directed this in 1945. It is also called PERFECT STRANGERS. It was quite a decent little film and treated a serious subject in a respectful way. It is the kind of movie you might like if you stumble on it, but perhaps not the sort you would rent on Amazon.

Mondays Are Murder

http://www.akashicbooks.com/a-good-day-for-redheads-by-patricia-abbott/

Things That Are Making Me Happy

RBG, the biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, which was more like a fan letter than any sort of critical study, but so what. Maybe she deserves it when you go through her accomplishments. She is certainly a role model for many young women. And managed to have a loving marriage too.

Enjoying THE LAST GOOD KISS by James Crumley and MAD MEN CAROUSEL by Matt Zoller Seitz as I rewatch seven seasons of MAD MEN. Yes, it holds up very well. And it seems even more relevant today than three years ago.

Sorry the series ATLANTA is over for the year. Each episode was special, different, sad. Donald Glover is a genius.

Finished my story for the Lawrence Block antho. Hope he likes it. And thanks to Jeff for reading it for me.

Incessant rain makes for green grass. But it also makes for incessant rain.

Happy Mother's Day

Friday's Forgotten Books, May 11, 2018

I am a big Larry Watson fan and LET HIM GO did not disappoint. It was a great followup to books like WHITE CROSSES and MONTANA: 1948.

After their adult son is killed in an accident, his widowed wife marries again and leaves the Blackledge's home to go with her new husband to Montana. She takes their grandson with her, of course, and therein lies the problem.

"With you or without you," Margaret Blackledge insists, and at these words George knows his only choice is to follow her.
 
George takes to the road with Margaret by his side, tracking down the Weboy clan quickly. When Margaret tries to convince Lorna to return home to North Dakota, bringing little Jimmy with her, the Blackledges find themselves mixed up with the entire Weboy clan, a horrific family determined not to give the boy up without a fight. It's more about possession than love with a family like this. 

This slim volume contains a heart-pounding story, unforgettable characters, terrific atmosphere and some of the most beautiful prose you will ever read. I liked it almost as much as MONTANA: 1948, making it still one of my favorite books. Oh, to write like Mr. Watson.  

Mark Baker, FATAL FISHES, Sandy Dengler
Yvette Banek, PLOT IT YOURSELF, Rex Stout
Brian Busby, S, PORTRAIT OF A SPY, Ian Adams
Les Blatt, THE SECOND CONFESSION, Rex Stout
CrossExamingCrime, A CENTURY OF CREEPY STORIES; THE BELAMY TRIAL,  Frances Noyes Hart
Martin Edwards, THE SALTMARSH MURDERS, Gladys Mitchell 
Curt Evans, CUT THROAT, Christopher Bush
Richard Horton, A VIRTUOUS WOMAN, Kaye Gibbons 
Jerry House, THE HOUSE ON THE MOUND, August Derleth
George Kelley,, THE HUMAN EDGE, Gordon R, Dickson
Margot Kinberg, SMITH's FORTY ACRES, Dwayne Alexander
B.V. Lawson, UNCLE ABNER, MASTER OF MYSTERIES, Melville Davisson Post
Evan Lewis, THE COWBOY HANDBOOK, Bruce Dillman
Steve Lewis, Barry Gardner, UNDUE INFLUENCE, Steve Martini
Todd Mason, Humor Magazines and Anthologies
Matt Paust, HIDE MY EYES, Marjorie Allingham 
James Reasoner, THE PYTHON PIT, George F. Worts 
Richard Robinson, WHAT I READ
Gerard Saylor, THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON, Steve Hamilton 
Kevin Tipple, DYING VOICES, Bill Crider
TracyK, THE WHIPHAND, Rex Carver 
TomCat, THE INUGAMI CLAN, Seishi Yokomizo 
Westlake Review, Peter Rabe
Zybahn, Stephen King, The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson