Gosh, I got to read quite a few good books this year. It's hard to choose favorites, but I'm going to :)

Favorite Fiction - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Favorite Non-Fiction - Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Favorite YA Novel: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Worst book that I kept reading because it was so terrible I just couldn't look away: Vampire Shrink (Kismet Knight, Ph.D., Vampire Psychologist #1) by Lynda Hilburn. Seriously, I ran across the title in the library catalog and felt compelled to read it. Why oh why. But it was excellent fodder for lunch room conversation.

                                                              Happy New Year!!!

Sheryl Sandberg is one year older than I am. She graduated from Harvard Business School; I graduated from Kent State. She is the chief operating officer of Facebook; I am a librarian. We are both women who want to have successful, productive careers.

Since I work at the library, I rarely ask for books as gifts. But this year I have requested a copy of Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. As I was reading the book I was using post-its to mark passages I related to or found inspiring and wanted to go back and read again. When I finished, I noticed there were an awful lot of colorful little flags sticking out of the pages. That's when I realized I should probably have my own copy for reference.

Sandberg's writing is both personable and encouraging. She has a fantastic education and a wealth of accomplishments behind her, has worked hard and learned that "having it all" is not all it's cracked up to be. How often have we heard the phrase "It's not personal. It's business."? For many people, the workplace is not only a place to collect a paycheck, but coworkers become friends. Our problems don't leave themselves at home (have you cried at work? She has. And so have I.) Decisions have to be made and they can be tough decisions. And since many women are not comfortable with disagreement and confrontation, learning how to trust your own judgement, delegate responsibility, and let go of worrying about decisions once they are made can be the toughest part of the job. Sheryl challenges us to step up and gives some great pointers about how to do it.

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders (TED Talk):

It's the time of the year when the "Best Books of 2013" lists are coming out. There are top picks for a variety of genres as well as non-fiction, but three books pop up again and again. Khaled Hosseini, noted author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, triumphs again with his generational and global novel about how people act and react to each other in And the Mountains Echoed. Altering time, history and life itself, Kate Atkinson reflects on the choices we make with Life after Life. And The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt relates the story of Theo, a boy who loses his mother in a tragedy, and his difficult passage from teen to adult. For more about these titles and plenty of other recommended books, check out the following sites:

• Goodreads Choice Awards 2013
• Amazon's Top 100 Editor's Picks 
• The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2013 
• The Huffington Post Best Books of 2013
• Barnes and Noble Best New Books of 2013  

  

 

 

I like Grumpy Cat. What kind of cat is she? We're not sure. She does not want to snuggle. Or be friends with the oafish dog. Or have a nice day. The only thing that does not seem to add to her grumpiness is her friend Cactus (who has googly-eyes). Perhaps you will appease her by reading Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book. But most likely not. Just remember to look grumpy, and you will feel grumpy.

Reading The Great Gatsby as a high school senior:
1. Must read 60 pages by tomorrow
2. Must write 10 page paper on the meaning of the green light at the end of Daisy's dock
3. Must be able to discuss Gatsby's love for Daisy
4. Must find at least 3 fundamental themes for final test

Reading The Great Gatsby this year with my book group:
1. Priceless

Honestly, I was so pleased with how much more I got out of re-reading Gatsby as an adult. F. Scott Fitzgerald's most notable work is told from the viewpoint of imported midwesterner Nick Carraway, who rents the house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. Nick's cousin Daisy and her husband Tom live across the Long Island bay in luxurious wealth, and Tom drives Nick through the "valley of ashes" wasteland, picking up his mistress before heading into New York City. Legendary parties are a regular occurrence at Gatsby's mansion and Nick, upon receiving an invitation, attends and meets Jay. It turns out Gatsby is in love with Daisy and he coerces Nick to host a meeting between them. And from there the story turns to love, obsession, confusion, dishonesty and betrayal.

Because I didn't have to think about writing papers and topic points and such, I was really able to love Fitzgerald's words and images. While I can't say I approved of what Gatsby was trying to do, I finally understood, and appreciated the flaws and merits of his character. And the final words of the book - “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”- gave cause for reflective thought about what I had just read. Now I understand why it's a classic.

    

           Salt: You are frightened of the night?

           Randy: Baloney!

           Salt: You are frightened of baloney? 

                     ~from the 1982 movie Pandemonium

Tonight I'm going to check out the series premiere of Dracula (NBC at 10pm) because I like vampire stories, and set in Victorian England, this show harkens back to classic Bram Stoker. There are loads of retellings and reimaginings - Interview With the Vampire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Twilight, etc. - but only one that features a potential vampire rabbit.

He was found by the Monroe family at a screening of the movie Dracula. Sleeps from sunup to sundown. Appears to have fangs. And since he arrived, vegetables are being found drained of their juices until they turn white! According to the family cat Chester there can only be one answer - Bunnicula must be a vampire! Unable to effectively communicate the potential danger to his family, Chester tries to convince Harold (our canine narrator) that the bunny has to be stopped before vegetables are no longer enough to satisfy his drinking desires. 

While the book is kept in the children's section, I think it's a great, fun read for any age. Deborah and James Howe wrote several other books in the Bunnicula series, including one of my all time favorite titles for a book - The Celery Stalks at Midnight. Oh, and an important tip - when trying to destroy a vampiric creature, don't use a steak of beef. You'll just look silly.

  

Is real life stranger than fiction? Oftentimes I believe this to be true. What I am certain of is that real life crime is scarier than anything horror writers have come up with. Oh I've been terrified by Stephen King, wouldn't swim even in lakes after seeing Jaws, and do not want to be possessed or be around people who are possessed by demons thanks to The Exorcist. But true crime both fascinates me and freaks me out - this really happened?

Well, if you're looking to scare yourself silly I'd go with Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi  (the prosecuting attorney in the case), with Curt Gentry. The name Charles Manson is well associated with words like cult leader, delusional, racist, and murderer. Living in California in the 60's, Charlie wanted to be a singer and musician and was a fan of "free love" so long as it worked in his favor. After gathering followers, he convinced them all to live at the broken down Spahn Movie Ranch north of Los Angeles. Although very scary, apparently Manson was also quite charismatic and took advantage of these lost, stoned flower children, brainwashing them to believe in Helter Skelter - a crazy theory of racial apocalypse where by they would hide in a secret city under Death Valley, arising after the war to control the world as white supremacists. And he claimed that this idea was inspired by his interpretation of the song Helter Skelter by The Beatles.

Manson also manipulated several of his followers to murder, the most famous and horrifying being the gruesome killing of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others at the home of director Roman Polanski (Tate's husband). Although never present at the crime scenes, Manson was arrested and convicted as the architect of the murders. He wanted to defend himself but caused so many ludicrous scenes he was subjected to a gag order, and eventually found guilty. Due to a change in California law, he skirted the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. Now 78 years old, Charlie Manson will be eligible for parole in 2027 at age 92.

    shutter (noun)

1. a solid or louvered movable cover for a window.

2. a movable cover, slide, etc., for an opening.

3. a person or thing that shuts

4. Photography - a mechanical device for opening and closing the aperture of a camera lens to expose film or the like.

    verb (used with object)

5. to close or provide with shutters: She shuttered the windows.

6.to close (a store or business operations) for the day or permanently.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is a very creepy psychological mystery thriller. In 1954 U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule take a ferry boat to a maximum security insane asylum. A patient has somehow escaped and left no clues. They interview the tight lipped staff and director who are obviously hiding something. When a storm hits the island, the partners are separated and Daniels makes what he thinks is an important discovery about the hospital experimenting on prisoners by giving them psychotropic drugs, and in some cases lobotomies. I say he "thinks" this is significant information because it only begins to explain what's happening. If you like twists and turns, mind-bending, kind of freaky noir fiction, Shutter Island is for you. And be sure to think about the definitions above while reading - they are all applicable. 

I have only been to Europe once. In 2000 I went with friends for 10 days and spent time in Paris and Belgium. We went to half a dozen museums including The Louvre and The Musée d'Orsay which are well known for their vast and stunning collections - the "Winged Victory" sculpture is awe inspiring - and I greatly enjoyed both. But my favorite was The Musée de Cluny. Although smaller than the others it is well known for it's magnificent tapestries, and I spent a long time admiring a series of six woven images from the middle ages, collectively called "The Lady and the Unicorn". 

The story of the tapestries and how they were created serves as the subject for Tracy Chevalier's historical novel of the same name. Arrogant artist Nicolas des Innocents is put to the test when a nobleman commissions him to design a set of tapestries, large and grand enough to hang in his great hall. Nicolas has an eye for women and deviously incorporates the nobleman's daughter and wife into his illustrations that feature the seduction of the unicorn. The place to go for weaving at the time is Brussels, where the hard working and talented weavers must use every daylight hour to make the desired tapestries within the allotted time if they expect a full payment. A Difficult and debilitating job under the best of circumstances, when the due date is moved up it becomes necessary to work through the night as well - for this is a time when fine craftsmanship not only brought a man business, but defined the man as well. Although the story is not historically accurate, the book is so detailed and well researched that the era comes alive in both it's squalor and beauty. I also recommend Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring.

This is my favorite. The unicorn looks quite saucy!

Is there an age that a woman becomes too old to have a child? There are hundreds of records of women in their 50s, 60s, and even some early 70s who have carried and given birth to babies, some naturally and some through in-vitro fertilization. These women face health risks and complications to themselves and their baby at a much higher degree than younger pregnant women. So perhaps the question is not so much can it be done, but should it?

This question is at the heart of Ann Patchett's book State of Wonder. After the disappearance of a staff member in the Amazon jungle, research scientist Marina Singh is given a mission to go to Brazil and find the group he was with, headed by her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson. Swenson has gone off the grid doing her own secret research and the company that's funding her wants to know what exactly is going on.

After an arduous journey, Marina discovers Dr. Swenson and her team living among the Lakashi, a tribe in which the women are able to bear children well into old age. Obsessed with finding a way to develop the Lakashi secret into a drug that could help older women world wide become pregnant, Swenson will not share or walk away from her work.

The book is a wonder in itself, depicting the awe-inspiring and harsh environment of the jungle, and presenting both sides of a never ending, controversial debate about human reproduction. This is a great title for a book discussion as there is much to question and discuss (based on my own book group).



 

Food for thought: Even big celebrities, movie stars, and famous politicians slept on somebody's couch at some point.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends is an autobiography by Rob Lowe. Mostly I picked it up because I like Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire, Wayne's World, on The West Wing, and wondered if he would talk about the highly inappropriate videotape that became the talk of 1988. And there is a bit of sex, drugs, and other scandalous talk.

But I was quite surprised by how very conversational Lowe is as a writer and he doesn't glamorize how he got to where he is today. A difficult Ohio childhood continues in Malibu where there's a lot of surfing going on, and parents let their kids roam free (accidents and injuries abound). His first big acting job was in The Outsiders, based on the novel by H.E. Hinton. There wasn't much money in the budget so the actors bunked in people's houses - I recall him having to share the living room with Tom Cruise. Becoming part of the "Brat Pack" was both a blessing and a curse with the craziness of the paparazzi and the excesses of the eighties so accessible. And anyone who watched The West Wing will be interested in what he has to say about being behind the scenes.

Did Rob Lowe do some stupid things? Yes. But he also managed to push forward, working to be a better, respected actor, a politically savvy celebrity, a loving husband and a caring father. It's the kind of book to sit comfortably and read with a good cup of coffee. Just let it roll. 

Sometimes I feel like I really lucked out on a book. It was in the right place at the right time and it fell into my hands and I read it and I loved it. I've been hearing good things about Stephen Chbosky's  The Perks of Being a Wallflower for years. A couple of months ago I watched the movie and found it enjoyable. Now I am completely enamored with the book.

Entering the 10th grade is hard enough, but add to that a friend who committed suicide a few months ago, changing relationships with friends, and sensitive emotional responses. That's Charlie. On the outskirts of school life, Charlie approaches a couple of friendly seniors at a football game in an effort to not just watch life, but participate in it. Patrick and Sam introduce him to their friends and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (among other things) and Charlie starts to fall into place, discovering the pleasures and difficulties of being part a close knit group. Additionally, he's trying to figure out how to relate to his parents and older siblings as he himself is growing up in both body and mind; and how to handle the feelings, the highs and lows, that sometimes threaten to overwhelm him. There are so many things about Charlie that I could relate to, and that I think would appeal to many teens and adults. Note: Chbosky does not shy away from topics like sexuality, drugs, and depression - if I gave it a movie rating it would be a PG13 (which is the rating of the film version).

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.”

According to American Community Survey Reports from September 2011, workers took an average of 25.1 minutes to get to work. It's a 10 minute drive for me, which is nice. But I have a friend who commutes on the train for an hour, from western Connecticut to NYC, and an hour back. Even though he works on his laptop or reads, that seems like a lot of travel time to me.

Now I'd like you to consider what it would be like to have a horse for transportation. In Colorado. In the winter. In 1916. That was how Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood traveled over an hour to teach school each sunny, rainy, and snowy day for almost a year. Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden (Woodruff's granddaughter) chronicles the lives of these women, who came from Auburn, New York and were brought up in affluent families. They graduated from Smith College and spent some time living in Europe. As the two neared age 30 (still unmarried!), they wanted to use their education to some advantage and jumped at the chance to work as school teachers in the tiny town of Elkwood, Colorado. Letters home recorded a harrowing train journey, boarding with a hard working and kind family, snow on the bed in the morning, children on homemade skis or walking without proper coats or footwear, and people traveling miles and miles for any kind of entertainment and connection. Never complaining (at least not in the letters), they joined in and worked to help that community grow. There are a number of photographs available, and collected in an interesting slideshow. Very impressive ladies - what gumption!

With temperatures in the 70's and 80's, I feel like it's been a pretty pleasant summer. But perhaps

you're looking for a little more heat? A chance to warm your heart? Experience love for the first time, rekindle a flame, or fall in love again?

The RITA awards recognize excellence in romance fiction and this years
winners were announced just a couple weeks ago. With categories from historical to contemporary to inspirational, suspense, young adult, and more, anyone with a penchant for romance should be able to find some great books. There's also a lengthy list of 2013 finalists, and a comprehensive list of previous winners dating back to 1982. Love is in the air!

People can be so nice. Offering to help out, listen to problems, make a difficult task easier. Perhaps create a celebration in your honor for an achievement, organizing a party and inviting friends and family. How nice to be thought of!

But what if you don't want a party? Don't feel successful? Need some time to yourself to think and try to make decisions about what to do next? In The Graduate by Charles Webb, that's how the book starts. Benjamin Braddock just graduated from college and has received a scholarship to continue into a teaching program for two years. But now he doesn't think that's what he wants to do. He knows he doesn't want to attend the party his parents are throwing for him. Then he falls into an affair with his father's business partner's wife - the seductive Mrs. Robinson. To further complicate matters, when Ben becomes enamored with her daughter Elaine, Mrs. Robinson is both jealous and fiercely protective.

Radical and provocative when it came out in 1963, The Graduate delves into disillusionment, sexual revolution, discordance, and non-traditional relationships.

Thank you Stephen King. Thank you for publishing a book this year that is not over 800 pages.

Joyland is (to me at least) a return to "classic" King. It's 1973 and college student Devin Jones needs a summer job, and a change. His girlfriend makes it clear that she'll be working in Boston - without him. But never fear, there are openings to work at Joyland amusement park in North Carolina! Sure it's a kind of a tourist trap that sells fun and employs an assortment of newbie workers and seasoned carnies. Maybe cleaning up after kids who get sick on rides isn't the greatest job. And having people put their trust in you to run rides, from the ferris wheel to the bumper cars, based on some very short training is pretty nerve wracking. But there can't be anything real about a murdered girl haunting the funhouse. Or can there?

I had fun reading Joyland and I suspect King had a good time writing it. Ghosts, carnies, creepy underground tunnels, old school rides, a mysterious woman, a visionary boy, and a great off-season storm make for spooky reading goodness. Oh, and a fantastic book cover from Hard Case Crime publishing!

So many books, so little time. My "to read" list on Goodreads continues to grow (currently 547 titles). I realize it's most likely I won't get to read them all, but I love to have choices. Sometimes I browse through my list and a title I marked a year or two ago catches my eye - I think "Ooh, time to read that one!". Sometimes it's a book I've been waiting to see published.

I picked up one of my new titles a couple weeks ago, Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley. A debut novel, the book begins with a mother, Amaranth, driving her daughters away from their home. We learn that they were all part of a cultist religious compound, the father having fifty wives, the only education for the children is what they are told - no reading, radio, TV, etc. While Amaranth became close with several of her sister wives, her husband was changing from a devoted leader to a fanatic zealot.

Her daughters Amity and Sorrow know no other life, though Amity has a sense that there has been a serious wrongdoing. Sorrow becomes completely distraught and withdrawn at her separation from home and family. Neither is aware that their mother is trying to save them an unenlightened and dangerous life.

Told in varying chapters by Amaranth and Amity, it's rather scary to realize how indoctrinated they are, but it does make sense that they would do and believe what they've been told in such a narrow and controlled world. I would suggest this book if you liked reading Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer, or followed the TV series Big Love.

Here at the Erlanger branch of KCPL, we had a great summer reading kick off - Jedi style! There were people in costumes, trivia, crafts, displays, and showings of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. For anyone who doesn't know, Jedi was released May 25, 1983 which makes 2013 the 30th anniversary (and in case anyone is interested, I remember going to see it in the movie theater at least 5 times).

Wearing her now iconic slave girl metal bikini and looking fierce was Princess Leia. Feeling quite uncomfortable and trying to maintain some dignity was Carrie Fisher. Still best known for the Star Wars trilogy, Fisher is an accomplished actress and writer. Her novel Postcards from the Edge is fiction, but incorporates some of her real life, including her relationship with mother Debbie Reynolds. The book was also made into a funny and interesting film starring Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine.

More recently, Fisher wrote a memoir titled Wishful Drinking, based on her one woman stage show (which KCPL has on DVD). It does not recount her life so much as dish out information she wants to share with us about growing up, her mixed up family tree, electroshock therapy, drinking - all the stuff celebrities generally don't want you to know. It skips around but I found that I read it as a series of vignettes. When you are associated with something as huge and fan crazed as Star Wars, I think you have to decide if you're going to let it define who you are and resent it, or embrace it and throw away any regrets. Carrie Fisher opened her arms and her mouth and what comes out is pretty astounding.

Last Wednesday, author Vince Flynn passed away from cancer at the age of 47. Known for his intense, powerful, fast paced thrillers, Flynn published the best seller Term Limits in 1997 (after receiving dozens of rejection letters!). Since then, his main character has been Mitch Rapp, an undercover CIA counter-terrorism agent who will defy procedure to stop domestic and international terrorists. If you're looking for a roller coaster ride without paying to go to a theme park, check out Vince Flynn. For more information, read this article in the Los Angeles Times.

Let's take a trip in Mr. Peabody's Wayback machine.

We hop on in 2013, and tumble out in 1976. It's the bicentennial year and things look pretty groovy. Folks are in bell-bottom pants and comfy caftans, riding bikes and roller skating. Can you dig it? I knew you could.

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City begins in '76 San Francisco, when Mary Ann Singleton from Cleveland moves into 28 Barbary Lane. Then it's time to meet the neighbors, including landlady Mrs. Madrigal who welcomes Mary Ann with a "homegrown" gift taped to her door; friendly Michael Tolliver, broken up with his boyfriend and still looking for love; lothario bachelor Brian Hawkins; and turned on and tuned in Mona Ramsey. An eccentric, fun loving, free wheeling group, they weave in and out of each others lives and in essence become an unconventional, close-knit family. Originally serialized in the San Francisco chronicle, chapters are short and from various character viewpoints. When reading it, really think about that mid-70's time period, and you'll see why it was considered quite the provocative publication.

Tales of the City is the first book in a series. KCPL also carries 28 Barbary Lane, an omnibus containing the first three books, and Back to Barbary Lane, a collection of the next three novels.

There have been four U.S. presidents who were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. Each instance carries it's own shock, grief, and intrigue. Before I read Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard I knew very little about the 20th President, the research and work of Alexander Graham Bell (other than the telephone) as he tried desperately to make a metal detecting device to locate the bullet in Garfield, or the mad as a hatter Charles Guiteau who believed he was an essential part of the Presidential win, but then God told him to shoot the President.

Perhaps most shocking is that Garfield didn't die from the bullet shot and lodged inside him. The poor man lingered in pain and with septicemia for over 2 months while doctors tried to "help" him. Most of them did not believe germs existed, and so inserted fingers and probes into the wound without washing and sterilizing them first. There were so many things that could have been done, including just leaving it alone. Many men who were shot in the Civil War walked around with bullets or shrapnel because without fussing at them, the wounds would heal themselves.

I knew I picked a good book when I got wrapped up in the story by the second page! Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President lives up to it's title by presenting a well researched historical book that tells a shocking, page turning, true story.

Charles Guiteau. Note the "crazy eyes".

I have a mid-week guest post from our teen librarian Eden! I thought it would be interesting to consider some different formats for adult reading, like graphic novels.

Bunny Drop is a sweet, honest, and unique story that appeals far more to adults than teens. It is the story of Rin Kaga, that little girl pictured on the cover, as she grows up with her adopted guardian, Daikichii. Rin was abandoned by her mother, a busy young author who is a popular manga author. She left Rin with Daikichii's grandfather, who we find out soon enough is the father! Bunny Drop follows Rin as she grows up in Daikichii's care; the two care for and help each other grow and learn.

The art style is different from most manga in that it is sketchy, flowy, and light. There are few dark lines, and little intensity. The characters' expressions are clearly defined and easily felt by the reader, but they're not overwhelming or loud in their drawing style.

I would recommend Bunny Drop for people who want to get into Japanese graphic novels but haven't read any before, or for manga fans who want a more mature, grown-up story.

“You think, as you walk away from Le Cirque des Rêves and into the creeping dawn, that you felt more awake within the confines of the circus.

You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.”

I have here in my hand an ordinary top hat. You can see there is nothing inside. Now I wave my magic wand and say "Abracadabra"! And presto, I pull a rabbit out of my hat! (audience applauds).

That's what I think of as a basic magic trick. Some slight of hand, a little misdirection, and hopefully a well behaved bunny. When I was a kid my brother could do some pretty neat tricks, and I loved reading about Houdini, or watching David Copperfield or Doug Henning specials on TV.

Erin Morgenstern's debut novel The Night Circus has at it's core a rivalry between magicians. Bonded by embedded rings, Celia and Marco possess gifts that create wonder, beauty, and surreal realities. But both are manipulated by their guardians into a lifelong game that can have only one winner. Set in the time of Victorian London, they become an integral part of The Cirque des Rêves, or The Circus of Dreams. The language, imagery, invention and creativity allowed my mind to visualize what was being described - from the black and white of the tents, to delicate ice flowers, to falling through clouds - and encouraged imagination. I just fell into the world of the book.

It's called "Leigh's Looks at Books", but once and a while I just have to make an exception. And I'm going to make it for Mel Brooks.

I'm watching KET (yes, right now) Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, a fantastically funny and interesting documentary about his personal life, writing career, and his movies. How to decide on a favorite? All right, I just can't. Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part I, The Producers, Spaceballs - I've seen them all multiple times and they still make me laugh myself silly. And I own it, I love it, yes it's Young Frankenstein.

The 2013 Edgar Award winners have been announced! Named after suspense writer Edgar Allen Poe, this prestigious award is presented by the Mystery Writers of America, "the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre."

                                                 Best Novel                                                  

Prohibition, bootlegging, dirty money and crime

 

 

Best First Novel 

CIA, international spy thriller, deception, espionage, twists and turns