Perhaps you are aware of the fact that there is an oddly popular trivia game floating around that a group of clever (and likely bored) college...
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The author loves the review which described her heroine as a cross between Dirty Harry and Harriet the Spy, and I agree that is a good characterization, but as much as I love Isobel Spellman, I love Lisa Lutz more. Lisa Lutz is brilliant and funny and has a big heart, and I plan to buy every book she writes.
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(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Clare Fergusson is a middle-aged Episcopal priest in a quiet rural area, not exactly the type to star in a riveting suspense series, but her adventures are page-turners indeed. Julia Spencer-Fleming's books are thoughtful, cleverly plotted, and unusual. I've read every one and can't wait for the next Clare Fergusson to come out!
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(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
Rodney Rothman was the head writer for the David Letterman show for years. He is also quite a stick-in-the-mud, a guy who has the lifestyle of a senior citizen at age 28. When he found himself between jobs, he was at a loss as to what to do with himself, so he decided to live out his dream of retiring to Florida early. This is the story of what happened next. Follow his adventures as Rodney becomes the roommate of an eccentric widow with a verbally abusive parrot. He learns to his shame and horror that he is STILL the worst softball player on the team even when he's forty years younger than the next player. He gets caught up in the politics of the shuffleboard league. At all times, Rodney keeps a sense of absurdity and compassion. This book is hilarious, touching, and more than a little scary at times.
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(9 of 12 readers found this comment helpful)
You might think that after Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air", there's no need to read another mountaineering memoir. If so, think again. Ed Viesturs is possibly the world's greatest living climber, who has climbed Mount Everest multiple times without supplemental oxygen. This book tells, for the first time, of his role in rescuing injured climbers in the infamous 1996 Everest disaster ... and that is not even the most exciting part of this book. Viesturs shares his failures and successes as he attempts the highest peaks on all seven continents on a shoestring, while trying to stay married to a woman who is halfway around the world and frankly half out of her mind with stress. His love of the wild and the peaks is contagious, and you may be motivated to schedule a trip to the Himalayas or, at the least, to your local climbing gym.
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(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
I've never been a comedy club fan; I've always thought that humor which occurs in day-to-day life is funnier than any made-up joke or comedy skit. However, it turns out that the humor which occurs in the day-to-day life of a stand up comic is much funnier than what happens in my day-to-day life. The authors, old-time veterans of the comedy club circuit, interviewed over 200 performers about their experiences on the road and performing in clubs. Some of the anecdotes are unbearably funny, like the two comedians getting into fistfights over their club pay... on a regular basis or the comedian who didn't realize he'd been booked to appear at a nudist resort. Other stories are less humorous but weirdly gripping, like the female comedian doing a weeklong stay at a club in the sticks who made the mistake of sleeping with one of the cocktail waitress's boyfriend on the first night. She then had to stick the week out afraid of getting poisoned or stabbed and unable to get any food service.
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(6 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)
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Carole has commented on (9) products.
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Carole, August 21, 2009
The author loves the review which described her heroine as a cross between Dirty Harry and Harriet the Spy, and I agree that is a good characterization, but as much as I love Isobel Spellman, I love Lisa Lutz more. Lisa Lutz is brilliant and funny and has a big heart, and I plan to buy every book she writes.(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
All Mortal Flesh (Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Jul Spencer Fleming
Carole, December 19, 2007
Clare Fergusson is a middle-aged Episcopal priest in a quiet rural area, not exactly the type to star in a riveting suspense series, but her adventures are page-turners indeed. Julia Spencer-Fleming's books are thoughtful, cleverly plotted, and unusual. I've read every one and can't wait for the next Clare Fergusson to come out!(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement by Rodney Rothman
Carole, January 28, 2007
Rodney Rothman was the head writer for the David Letterman show for years. He is also quite a stick-in-the-mud, a guy who has the lifestyle of a senior citizen at age 28. When he found himself between jobs, he was at a loss as to what to do with himself, so he decided to live out his dream of retiring to Florida early. This is the story of what happened next. Follow his adventures as Rodney becomes the roommate of an eccentric widow with a verbally abusive parrot. He learns to his shame and horror that he is STILL the worst softball player on the team even when he's forty years younger than the next player. He gets caught up in the politics of the shuffleboard league. At all times, Rodney keeps a sense of absurdity and compassion. This book is hilarious, touching, and more than a little scary at times.(9 of 12 readers found this comment helpful)
No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks by Ed Viesturs
Carole, January 28, 2007
You might think that after Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air", there's no need to read another mountaineering memoir. If so, think again. Ed Viesturs is possibly the world's greatest living climber, who has climbed Mount Everest multiple times without supplemental oxygen. This book tells, for the first time, of his role in rescuing injured climbers in the infamous 1996 Everest disaster ... and that is not even the most exciting part of this book. Viesturs shares his failures and successes as he attempts the highest peaks on all seven continents on a shoestring, while trying to stay married to a woman who is halfway around the world and frankly half out of her mind with stress. His love of the wild and the peaks is contagious, and you may be motivated to schedule a trip to the Himalayas or, at the least, to your local climbing gym.(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics by Ritch Shnyder and Mark Schiff
Carole, January 28, 2007
I've never been a comedy club fan; I've always thought that humor which occurs in day-to-day life is funnier than any made-up joke or comedy skit. However, it turns out that the humor which occurs in the day-to-day life of a stand up comic is much funnier than what happens in my day-to-day life. The authors, old-time veterans of the comedy club circuit, interviewed over 200 performers about their experiences on the road and performing in clubs. Some of the anecdotes are unbearably funny, like the two comedians getting into fistfights over their club pay... on a regular basis or the comedian who didn't realize he'd been booked to appear at a nudist resort. Other stories are less humorous but weirdly gripping, like the female comedian doing a weeklong stay at a club in the sticks who made the mistake of sleeping with one of the cocktail waitress's boyfriend on the first night. She then had to stick the week out afraid of getting poisoned or stabbed and unable to get any food service.(6 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)
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