Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Looking For Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip by Nevin Martell, 247 pages

 For ten years, Calvin and Hobbes was one the world's most beloved comic strips. And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life. In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, Nevin Martell sets out on a very personal odyssey to understand the life and career of the intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. Martell talks to a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, and along the way reflects upon the nature of his own fandom and on the extraordinary legacy that Watterson left behind. This is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and it's the fascinating story of an intrepid author's search for him, too.




Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, 128 pages

 This is the first collection of the popular comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life.




Monday, September 11, 2023

The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse, 222 pages

 When Bertie Wooster visits Deverill Hall pretending to be Gussie Fink-Nottle he finds himself in trouble. To begin with, there is the case of Esmond Haddock, JP, the squire of King's Deverill, and his surging sea of aunts. Then there is the problem with 'Corky' Pirbright, Constable Dobbs and the dog. Complicating matters further, Esmond is in love with Corky, and Esmond's cousin Gertrude with Corky's brother, but the aunts have forbidden both unions. And, as if that were not enough, Gussie arrives in person pretending to be Bertie. There is only one person who can save Bertie from a fate worse than death - so naturally, Jeeves materializes at Deverill pretending to be someone else. All quite clear?




Blue Jasmine by Violet Winspear, 186 pages

 "You will go to a lonely place in the sands of the desert," the Arab diviner warned Lorna, "pursued by a man with dark hair."

Lorna scoffed. Her plans would not be spoiled by foolish tales.

But she was wrong. For now she found herself held captive by Kasim ben Hussayn—a man with the power to make people love him. Lorna wanted only to hate him!



The Clue of the Velvet Mask by Carolyn Keene, 177 pages

 A masquerade party quickly turns into a mystery when Nancy and Ned spy an enigmatic man in a black cloak and an exotic woman in a glittering Javanese costume. Are they members of the gang of wily thieves who sneak into parties hosted by wealthy citizens to rob jewels and painting treasures? Why is the owner of the black velvet hooded mask Ned found during the party desperate to retrieve it? To find the answers, Nancy and George switch identities. George soon discovers that it can be both exciting and dangerous to masquerade as Nancy Drew! This book is the revised text. 




Saturday, September 9, 2023

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Jodi Taylor, 345 pages

 Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don’t call it “time travel”—these historians “investigate major historical events in contemporary time.” And they aren’t your harmless eccentrics either; a more accurate description, as they ricochet around history, might be unintentional disaster-magnets.

The Chronicles of St. Mary’s tells the madcap adventures of Madeleine Maxwell and her compatriots—Director Bairstow, Leon “Chief” Farrell, Mr. Markham, and many more—as they travel through time, saving the St. Mary’s Institute (too often by the very seat of their pants) and thwarting time-travelling terrorists, all the while leaving plenty of time for tea.

In What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Max is back, with a new husband, a new job, and a training regime that cannot fail . . . to go wrong. Take one interim chief training officer, add five recruits, and mix with Joan of Arc, a baby mammoth, a duplicitous Father of History, a bombed rat, Stone Age hunters, a couple of passing policemen who should have better things to do, and Dick the Turd. Stir well, bring to a boil—and wait for the bang!



Mystery at the Ski Jump by Carolyn Keene, 176 pages

 When Nancy learns the Drews’ housekeeper has been duped by an elegantly dressed woman into buying a stolen fur piece, the young detective starts a search for the clever swindler. To Nancy’s astonishment, she discovers the woman is using the name Nancy Drew! The dishonest acts of the impostor point the finger of suspicion at Nancy herself! Following the trail of the clever fur thieves and stock swindlers to New York and into Canada, Nancy is tireless in her quest for justice, determined to clear her good name! This book is the revised text.