Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Nothing new or shocking,
which is just the way we
like it. Bottoms up.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2009, 212 pages.

Driving Like Crazy: Review Haiku

I heart P. J., but
this repurposed trunkload of
gearhead fodder stalled.

Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hellbending . . . by P. J. O'Rourke. Atlantic Monthly, 2009, 258 pages.

Good Book: Review Haiku

Casual Jew reads
the whole Hebrew Bible so
you don't have to. Sweet.

Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible by David Plotz. Harper, 2009, 322 pages.

What I Saw and How I Lied: Review Haiku

Starts out slow, but then --
hoo, doggie -- a sordid tale
of lust and murder.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell. Scholastic, 2008, 284 pages.

Happy birthday to me!

I'm officially Older than Jesus, and that joke will never stop being funny to me.

The Eternal Smile: Review Haiku

What's real? What's unreal?
And what difference does it make
in the end, really?

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Yang and Derek Kirk Kim. First Second, 2009, 176 pages.

Something, Maybe: Review Haiku

The boy thing is
predictable, sure, but I still
rooted for Hannah.

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott. S&S, 2009, 217 pages.

Anything but Typical: Review Haiku

Remarkably fresh
take on autism from an
atypical boy.

Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. S&S, 2009, 208 pages.

How Oliver Olson Changed the World: Review Haiku

This one's for all the
helicopter parents out
there. Snappy and cute.

How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills. FSG, 2009, 104 pages.

Come to my show!

If you live in the Boston area and are looking for something fun and cheap to do with your wife/mom/maternal figure this Mother's Day weekend, why not come see YOURS TRULY in ST. PAUL'S TONIGHT 2009: HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD in Bedford?

Highlights include ME tap-dancing in a Shirley Temple wig made out of toilet paper tubes. More info is at http://www.stpaulsbedford.org/. You won't regret it.

1968: Review Haiku

A year when the world
exploded, from a newsman's
viewpoint. Sobering.

1968 by Michael T. Kaufman. Roaring Brook, 2009, 148 pages.

Marcelo in the Real World: Review Haiku

Marcelo finds his
heart and breaks it. Holy crap,
this book is stunning.

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. Levine/Scholastic, 2009, 312 pages.