The author has scoured arcane dictionaries, language guides, and encyclopedias to find interesting idioms and items.
REVIEW: The Last Spirits of Manhattan
Carolyn agrees to act as the family representative at an old family home for a party hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. She is amused to learn they want everything left in its charmingly cobwebby condition–and they want to be visited by a ghost. Much to her surprise, one does oblige. It turns out to be an ancestor.
ACCENT: The Christmas Appeal
The Fairway Players are once again desperate to put on a fabulous production (however improbable), this time to raise money for a new church roof. They plan is a panto mashup of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with a surprise Santa. But the real surprise comes when dress rehearsal reveals a dead body hidden inside the long-forgotten beanstalk prop.
THE LIFE AND AFTERLIFE OF HARRY HOUDINI
An unconventional biography of an unconventional character. Rather than focus on timelines or family trees, Posnanski tries to get at Houdini as a legend, as an historical figure.
Books to watch for in 2019
The main reason I love writing about books is that I get a sneak preview of what’s coming. Remember when you were a kid and you got the giant catalog from JC Penney or Montgomery Ward and you would go through it and dream about your Christmas presents? Getting a publisher catalog and sifting through titles is a lot like that. And the fall / winter release season is always the biggest time of the year in book publishing. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a preview of some of the books I can’t wait to read, coming out in the second half of 2019.