My older son loves ocean liners and lighthouses. I know, not the typical fare of most 18-year-old boys, but he definitely has ensured that we have taken some very different vacations over the past few years. While some kids long to get to Disneyland, he has seen more than 175 lighthouses, many of them with my husband or me in tow.
These past two weeks there have been some "interesting" revelations about politicians and sex. It got me to thinking about what kids have learned about sex from politicians by reading the newspaper, listening to the news and looking at even the home page of most news sites over the past decade or so:
President Clinton --- oral sex.Governor Spitzer --- sex with prostitutes.Senator Larry Craig --- how to pick up men in bathrooms.Governor McGreevey (and his wife) --- threesomes.Governor Patterson (and his wife) --- both had affairs.
If you spent the $4,300 you were alleged to have spent on the night of February 13th on books, you could have bought 172 hardcover books at an average price of $25.
If, as rumored, you spent $80,000 on escort services over the past decade, you could have bought 3,200 hardcover books at an average price of $25.
If you bought the books in state, none would have had to cross state lines to get to you.
If you bought them online, they may have crossed state lines and yes, you may not have paid tax, but it still would be legal.
I think going forward that Daylight Savings Time should commence on a Monday, not a Sunday. I do not need one less hour of any Sunday. I could use one less hour of most Mondays. Especially rainy Mondays. Yes, I know for business this would not be easy. I am thinking only of reading time. One less hour of reading time on a weekend is brutal. Even if I can be reading by daylight one hour longer today. I think readers of the world should unite behind this. Have a great Sunday...as you read double time.
As a longtime fan of mystery and thriller books I spend a fair time at mystery conferences. Among the things I have learned from authors in these genres is that if they do not get the gun right in a book they are going to get mail, lots of mail. Thus education on this topic is a must and research on this topic is important. There usually is at least one session on guns and weaponry at writer's conferences like Sleuthfest, which I attended last weekend in Florida.
I just finished reading the piece in The New York Times where Margaret B. Jones admits that her memoir, Love and Consequences, was fabricated. She was not "a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods."
Okay, reading this I have a few questions for Jones:
1) Have you ever heard of James Frey?
2) WHERE were you when Frey did his "called on the carpet" appearance on Oprah?
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from December 13th to January 3rd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE NOTE by Alafair Burke and THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
December's Books on Screen roundup includes the films Nickel Boys, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Nightbitch, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Room Next Door and Oh, Canada; the series premieres of "Dexter: Original Sin" on Paramount+ and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" on Netflix; the season premiere of Netflix's "Virgin River"; the conclusion of "The Day of the Jackal" on Peacock and "Like Water for Chocolate" on Max; the season finales of HBO's "Dune: Prophecy" and The CW's "Sullivan's Crossing"; the continuation of "Outlander" on STARZ and "Tracker" on CBS; and the DVD releases of Conclave, White Bird and The Wild Robot.