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Saturday, May 31, 2014

New Stephen King Novel, Mr. Mercedes, Available the Week of June 2.

Mr. Mercedes, a new novel from Stephen King, is heading into my summer book bag. This is a big step for me as I haven't read any book by King since I was terrified by The Shining.

While I don't enjoy being terrified, I do like crime thrillers and that is how the publisher describes Mr. Mercedes. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Author James Patterson Speaking about Amazon at the BookExpo America 2014.

This is a statement made yesterday by the prolific, book-writing machine James Patterson. What do you think?

Hi, I'm Jeff Bezos. I can't do his hysterical laugh.... Amazon seems out to control shopping in this country. This ultimately will have an effect on every grocery and department store chain and every big box store and ultimately put thousands of mom and pop stores out of business. It sounds like a monopoly to me. Amazon also wants to control bookselling, the book business and book publishing. That's a national tragedy. If this is the new American way, it has to be changed by law if necessary.

James Patterson, speaking at the Celebration of Bookselling at BEA.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Bertie Wooster and Jeeves.

I love the frothy nonsense found in the books by British humorist P.G. Wodehouse that feature the rich and silly Bertie Wooster and his brainy valet, Jeeves. The stories are set in England between the wars, and take place within the social mores of early 20th-century British upper-class society. Typically Bertie, or one of his pals, gets into a jam; the intelligent Jeeves solves the problem. It's all very fun; the dialog and Wodehouse's word choices are wonderful. If you haven't read these books, check them out for some delightful summer entertainment.

I tore through the Wooster and Jeeves works some summers ago, which is why it is such a joy now to be reading Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, a new book featuring the duo and written by Sebastian Faulks in the Wodehouse style.

What ho!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

How Can This be Ethical?

Attorney Henry Bushkin was Johnny Carson's personal lawyer, counselor and adviser for many years. Bushkin writes a book about Carson based upon that relationship.

How can this possibly comply with a lawyer's ethical duty to keep client information confidential?