I really thought that I had used Spam in many creative ways over the years. Fried rice? Of course! Toasted Spam and cheese sandwiches? Yes! Mac ‘n Cheese with Spam and peas? It’s a no-brainer! But The Ultimate Spam Cookbook has provided me with so many fresh ideas for myContinue Reading
A fire breaks out in a home. Natalie, The Second Wife, escapes without injury. But her fourteen-year-old stepdaughter, Jade, has to be rescued by firemen. After awakening from a brief coma, Jade tells her father, Alex, she was hiding in her closet. But she wasn’t fleeing the fire. She saysContinue Reading
Three Perfect Liars is a well-crafted thriller about the conflicts and vulnerabilities women feel when returning from maternity leave. Laura is sad to leave her 6-month-old son at home with her husband, Nate. But she is excited to return to her high-powered advertising job after her six month maternity leave.Continue Reading
An interesting, though somewhat disorganized, look into the world’s illegal drug culture. Dopeworld is the author’s personal experience with being a drug dealer in England. It is also a worldwide history of the gangs who profited by transporting and selling drugs for the last 50 years. Finally, the author interviewsContinue Reading
The title, 27 Essential Principles of Story, basically explains what the book is about. It looks closely at plot, character, setting, dialogue, and theme. The book uses a simple system. First, a brief description of the principle. Then, a detailed explanation of how the principle works. Next, an example fromContinue Reading
“January 10. Got up. Went to Twickenham. Rehearsed until lunchtime. Left The Beatles. Went home.”—George Harrison’s diary of the first split up of The Beatles in 1969 from And in the End, a book about the band’s breakup. Was it really Yoko who split up The Beatles? Well, she certainlyContinue Reading
Sylvie and her daughter are back in southern France to sell the family’s house now owned by Sylvie and her sister Camille. The house has been abandoned for ten long years. Something has happened in the house in the past. A fire, perhaps? A child’s death? Has The Heatwave passedContinue Reading
Teenage Erica has an ultra-religious family. She also has night terrors and/or sleep paralysis, where she imagines a demon is after her. When the family moves to a new town, Erica has The Watcher as her next-door neighbor. Is he just a pervy peeper or does he want something more?Continue Reading
Venus in the Blind Spot is an excellent horror manga story collection that is highly recommended for its original plots. Someone is killing the young people in Japan! Killing, undressing, and stitching them together with fishing line. It occurs whenever two or more people gather together. A group called BillionsContinue Reading