My favorite by far was the Nate DiMeo essay about what would have happened if the International Olympic Committee had decided to keep tug-of-war as anMy favorite by far was the Nate DiMeo essay about what would have happened if the International Olympic Committee had decided to keep tug-of-war as an Olympic sport. I also loved all the essays on women's sports. I enjoyed the serious essays (especially the one about the New York Renaissance, a Black-owned basketball team) and the loopy ones (especially the one asking what if basketball hoops were smaller than basketballs)....more
Lauren Spierer was a college student with big dreams, lots of friends, and a significant drug and alcohol problem. I'm not a doctor, but my guess is tLauren Spierer was a college student with big dreams, lots of friends, and a significant drug and alcohol problem. I'm not a doctor, but my guess is that her being 4 foot 11 and weighing 90 pounds meant that intoxicants affected her more than they would many other people. This book describes her interactions with friends one night as she drank heavily and snorted Klonopin. By 4 a.m., she was so intoxicated that she had lost her shoes, phone, and keys, had a black eye, and could barely stand up. Nobody walked her home, and she vanished. According to her friends, heavily intoxicated girls wandered around alone all the time in Bloomington, Indiana. She is survived by her parents and sister, who believe she died that morning but continue to ask for leads related to the case. Surely, somebody knows something.
There are theories, of course. She had a heart condition in addition to addiction problems. Maybe the heart problem killed her, or the drugs and booze did, or she fell again and died from that, and the young men whose apartment she was in dumped her body. Maybe someone killed her intentionally—her longtime boyfriend, a guy she was flirting with, or someone else. Maybe a stranger snatched her on the walk home. Some of the young men blame a serial killer. The brother of the boyfriend blames her parents for letting her attend college while an addict.
The author is a reporter who has worked at the Post (New York) and the Daily Mail (United Kingdom) but got fired from the Post for having a relationship with a sex worker who had been one of his sources. Some of the suspects in the Spierer disappearance taunt him for this. I think he's a dogged reporter. It takes determination to doorstep the childhood friend of a possible suspect for eight hours in a row. She eventually spoke to him at length on the record, with little in the way of results. The book is thorough and well-sourced.
Cohen mentions two other cases of women who vanished at about the same time as Lauren Spierer: Athena Curry and Crystal Grubb. These women got only a tiny fraction of the attention the Spierer case got because Spierer was a rich, attractive college student and Curry and Grubb were not. Cohen says that editors often call cases like Curry's and Grubb's "low-rent" and do not assign resources to them. ...more
The author didn't ask for my opinion, but I'll give it anyway: He should have left her the first time she hit him. She hit him in the chest, she assauThe author didn't ask for my opinion, but I'll give it anyway: He should have left her the first time she hit him. She hit him in the chest, she assaulted him with a Yankee Candle, and she dug her nails into his arm so hard that he bled. She told him that for years she had wished he would die, preferably in a bicycle accident. These are the actions of someone who has broken the covenant of marriage, regardless of whether she had sex with someone else. Which she did. If the roles were reversed, just about everybody would say that she should divorce him. But instead he tries to play things for laughs and flails around and embarrasses her and himself. And he let her write a chapter of this book, which I assume means she gets some of whatever profits there turn out to be. Someday their kids will read this book if they haven't already. What a shame for everyone involved....more
This is the fifth Hallett I've read. Farfetched but entertaining. It's hard to do effective character development in a mystery because you need so manThis is the fifth Hallett I've read. Farfetched but entertaining. It's hard to do effective character development in a mystery because you need so many characters, but I think she develops two of the characters really well. And parts are quite funny....more
Horror and other comics from a lesser-known EC contributor. My favorites were the horror comics at the start of the book. Moon Girl, a Wonder Woman imHorror and other comics from a lesser-known EC contributor. My favorites were the horror comics at the start of the book. Moon Girl, a Wonder Woman imitation, is fairly anemic. But the last comic in this volume, about werewolves in the mountains, is fun. ...more
Fantastically appealing and colorful cookbook with a friendly and encouraging tone. I learned about Dominican Republic-made artificial vanilla (which Fantastically appealing and colorful cookbook with a friendly and encouraging tone. I learned about Dominican Republic-made artificial vanilla (which is sweeter and more floral than other vanillas, real or fake), rose water, dulce de leche, and many other ingredients. Can't wait to make the Nutella popsicles....more
I came for the essay on Agatha Christie. I stayed for all the other essays, including ones about Dracula, the painter Francis Bacon, swearing, and manI came for the essay on Agatha Christie. I stayed for all the other essays, including ones about Dracula, the painter Francis Bacon, swearing, and many other topics. Plus one star for having an index....more
Charming, action-filled mystery caper from the author of the Thursday Murder Club series. I didn't understand some of the British humo(u)r, but I enjoCharming, action-filled mystery caper from the author of the Thursday Murder Club series. I didn't understand some of the British humo(u)r, but I enjoyed it very much all the same. Richard Osman has created some delightful characters. Is the multimillion-selling author in this one based on Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper, or someone else?...more
"After we purchased side-by-side cemetery plots years ago, I asked her what she wanted her marker to say. She answered, 'I'm with Stupid.' (That reque"After we purchased side-by-side cemetery plots years ago, I asked her what she wanted her marker to say. She answered, 'I'm with Stupid.' (That request will not be honored.)"
Morbid yet intermittently lighthearted accounts of death customs, last meals, mourning rituals, and scathing obituaries. There was also one incredibly appealing obituary, which was of Linda Weide by her husband: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/...
I picked this up on impulse and was very impressed. The author describes five cases in which a woman went missing and her remains were never found.
DorI picked this up on impulse and was very impressed. The author describes five cases in which a woman went missing and her remains were never found.
Dorothy Arnold, 1910: An heiress went window shopping, bought a light novel and half a pound of chocolates, walked through Central Park, and vanished. It seems likely to me that somebody murdered her to steal her diamond earrings and her cash, but what happened to her body? She may have taken her own life, as she said she might in a letter to a friend, but do people actually take their lives over two rejections from a literary magazine? And again, what happened to the body? Another possible theory is that she died in a botched abortion (all abortions were secret then) and her body was incinerated. This case was international news. The family's reluctance to share information with the public—they announced her disappearance six weeks after it happened—and their desire to avoid scandal complicated the case.
Anna Locascio, 1918: Married in her mid-teens, this mother got fed up with her low-earning husband and went to work in a factory. Sometimes, after work, she drank in a tavern with a man who wasn't her husband. The neighbors, her children, and the husband all said the husband had a screaming argument with Anna one night. Why didn't the husband's brother hear the argument? He was in the apartment with them. Where did Anna vanish to? Why did a trunk suddenly show up in the shared basement? What was under the new concrete in the basement? Why did the chief of police, who was supposed to be investigating the disappearance, call Anna a bad mother and a bad wife?
Agnes Tufverson, 1933: Poor girl becomes a successful and respected attorney, marries a bigamist, and disappears. Did he throw her bones out of a porthole during a transatlantic crossing?
Jean Spangler, 1949: A lovely dancer divorces her husband, begins getting bit parts in movies, and goes missing. The ex-husband owed child support for their five-year-old daughter. Did he kill her in a rage? Some of her friends said she was three months pregnant. Did she die during a botched abortion by "Dr. Scottie" of the Sunset Strip? She was also involved with mobsters.
Simone Ridinger, 1977: This is the only case that remains open. A free-spirited teenaged waitress went hitchhiking and never came back. Police at the time said she was a runaway, but her mother pointed out that Simone had a job and her own apartment. Was she running away from herself?
These are just mean. Imagine saying "I love your cosplay" to a man wearing a basketball jersey. I laughed and laughed, but the joke may be on you if yThese are just mean. Imagine saying "I love your cosplay" to a man wearing a basketball jersey. I laughed and laughed, but the joke may be on you if you spend ten bucks on an audiobook that is really only 45 minutes long. (The author pads out the book with some end matter plus a long interview with his mother that I didn't bother with.) Cover art is perfect. I probably shouldn't read this sort of thing and contribute to the amount of cruelty in the world, but here we are.
What do you think is the number one thing to say to piss off men? It's "No." Of course it is....more
Appealing true story about Nelson Molina, a sanitation engineer who from earliest childhood has reused and upcycled thrown-away items, including childAppealing true story about Nelson Molina, a sanitation engineer who from earliest childhood has reused and upcycled thrown-away items, including children's toys. I got the audiobook version, but I will look for the print or ebook version because the artist's curation and arrangement skills are apparently what made him famous. Some examples of his work are here: https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/......more
Sensitively written and imaginatively illustrated book about rocks from the small (the ones that fit in your pocket) to the huge (the big rock we all Sensitively written and imaginatively illustrated book about rocks from the small (the ones that fit in your pocket) to the huge (the big rock we all live on)....more
Spicy advice from 1936! There is liquor! There are morals! There are bed jackets! (Apparently three or four different bed jackets are needed for diffeSpicy advice from 1936! There is liquor! There are morals! There are bed jackets! (Apparently three or four different bed jackets are needed for different circumstances. I had no idea. This was decades before the Snuggie.)
I don't live alone right now, but I certainly loved it when I did.
The author assumes that the reader will be able to hire a maid or other servant full-time or part-time for just a few dollars a week. No word on whether that person lives alone and likes it.
Marjorie Hillis was a Vogue employee of many years when she wrote this witty and highly opinionated guide. The book was a huge success in pop culture and financially, and Miss Hillis went on to marry (and stop living alone) three years after its initial publication....more
Fun poems about animals. I never knew that unlike other birds, pigeons drink as if through a straw. (Most other birds shovel in a little water and theFun poems about animals. I never knew that unlike other birds, pigeons drink as if through a straw. (Most other birds shovel in a little water and then tip back their heads to swallow it.)...more
Recommended by a friend. I loved it. These are the struggles of a team of the least appreciated workers at a down-on-its-luck retail chain in an econoRecommended by a friend. I loved it. These are the struggles of a team of the least appreciated workers at a down-on-its-luck retail chain in an economically cratering town in a country where workers' rights are crumbling. These crew members have very modest expectations, and even those are frequently dashed. And yet the characters in this novel really do care about who gets promoted to manager. They aren't always smart or strategic about it, but they want a better life for themselves and their loved ones and friends. And there are a few extraordinarily gifted and lucky characters who do well. This was a saddening but satisfying read for me....more
Tawdry, sleazy, morally bankrupt true crime with a patina of religiosity, written by someone with a DPhil from Oxford, so it has a bunch of ShakespearTawdry, sleazy, morally bankrupt true crime with a patina of religiosity, written by someone with a DPhil from Oxford, so it has a bunch of Shakespeare quotations in it. I loved it. Many true crime books are whodunits, but this one focuses on how the murder was accomplished and where the body was. (We find out both at about the 70 percent mark, but there's plenty to keep a reader occupied before that.) If you are already upset about unfair stereotypes of Floridians, Baptists, and Floridian Baptists, do yourself a favor and skip this one....more
I read a lot of mysteries, and this is the best one I've read in a few years. Atmospheric, compelling, excellent character development. The fractured I read a lot of mysteries, and this is the best one I've read in a few years. Atmospheric, compelling, excellent character development. The fractured timeline made things a little harder to understand, but it worked for me. I will go back and read Long Bright River, the author's previous mystery....more