It was September and the colors along the curve of Lake Michigan were ripening. Autumn is metallic here, chrome yellows on the locust trees, planted along the Outer Drive because they can stand the automobile-scented air, bronze oaks on the campus lawns, and brassy yellow maples near the administration buildings. The few trees that stayed… Continue reading

I probably wouldn't like all of the books that author Sara Nelson likes to read; we appear to have very different tastes. But that doesn't stop me from agreeing with, understanding, and liking much of what she has to say in So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. I was especially… Continue reading

I just finished the fourth book in S. J. Rozan's Bill Smith and Lydia Chin series. The stories are told in the first person with the perspective alternating from Lydia to Bill and back from book to book. Book #4 (No Colder Place) is written from Bill's perspective and I'm happy to say I liked… Continue reading

Do you feel funny if you start a book but don't finish it? If you don't want to finish it? If you don't like it? How about if the book is by an author you usually enjoy reading? Continue reading

Rich and I recently finished reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. It's quite a good read if you enjoy this sort of book; you'll find it shelved under travel memoirs. We're both fans of Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence) and similar sorts of books. This is very much in the same vein.… Continue reading

Welcome to Sherwood! One of my favorite movies, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland), is now available on DVD. Continue reading

The Friday Five is taking this week off, so in its place we bring you.,.. a book report. If you like the sorts of questions the Friday Five provides, look for these books: The Little Book of Stupid Questions (David Borenicht; publ. Barnes & Noble Books; 1999) and The Big Book of If… (Questions for… Continue reading

Do you like mystery fiction? Try this one: Maggie Needs an Alibi by Kasey Michaels. Continue reading

We’ve read some good books lately; I thought I’d share. Instead of an entry for each, I’ll just put them together. There’s one scifi/fantasy/alternate universe/mystery series, one police procedural mystery (a nice puzzle; first in a series (I hope!)), and one forensic procedural series (very well written). Continue reading