Gasping for Airtime; Passport to Peril

I saw Jay Mohr's book "Gasping For Airtime" awhile ago at work, and curiously picked it up, thinking "Wow, Jay Mohr was on 'Saturday Night Live'? He must have been on after I stopped watching it, because I don't remember him at all". Surprise: he was on for two years in the early 90s, the same time that I watched it, although only occasionally. I was never a big fan of the show, but I would watch if there was a good musical guest on. Mohr talks about how difficult it was to get his sketches and himself on the show, his crippling panic attacks, and finally his decision not to go back after two painful years of begging for more airtime. It seems like SNL was a great place to work for some people, but not for most. He of course has some great memories of Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, watching Nirvana play on the first show of the 19th season (I have that recorded on a VHS cassette somewhere...).

"Passport to Peril" is a Hard Case crime book by the *original* Robert B. Parker (if you want a laugh, look it up on Amazon and see how many negative reviews it got from people pissed off that it's not the Robert B. Parker who wrote the Spenser books). It was a nifty little spy/espionage novel taking place after WW2. John Stoddard is traveling to Hungary to investigate what happened to his brother, who was last seen parachuting out of a plane in the area. On the train, he meets a beautiful woman named Maria, who is looking for her boss, who was supposed to be on the train. Her boss's name is Marcel Blaye, and Stoddard immediately knows something is wrong, since he's traveling on Blaye's passport that he bought in Geneva, not realizing it's a murdered man's passport. Maria has an envelope that Blaye intrusted to her, an envelope full of names that Russians and Germans and everyone else under the sun seem to be after. It was pretty interesting, I like those Hard Case books. I have a bunch I haven't read yet that I'm looking forward to eventually getting around to reading :)

Uganda Be Kidding Me

I was pleasantly surprised by Chelsea Handler's latest, "Uganda Be Kidding Me". I wasn't terribly impressed with her last few books, and I stopped watching her show a few years back because she just wasn't funny to me any longer. I checked this one out, not expecting much, which is why I was so glad to see her return to why I liked her in the first place. Rather than making fun of other people and being flat out mean (she was a little bit, but in a good hearted way, you can tell the difference) she made fun of the absurd situations she got herself into. It's good to see that when she's not being cruel for no good reason, she can still be funny.

1Q84; Tumbleweeds

I've been wanting to read Haruki Murakami's "1Q84" ever since it came out, but it's such a brick of a book I haven't had time until now. It still took me almost 5 weeks to finish it, but it was worth it. It was very good, just hard to sum up. I'll try :) Aomame is a female assassin who finds herself in an alternate world after going down an emergency staircase on a highway on her way to kill a man. Alternating Aomame's story is Tengo, a math teacher who writes fiction. Tengo's editor gets a hold of a promising manuscript called "Air Chrysalis" by a teenage girl that needs rewriting. Against his better judgement, Tengo rewrites the book and it's a smashing success when it's published. Aomame and Tengo's stories and lives intersect in an interesting way. The only complaint I had about this book was the ending: it felt like Murakami had written himself into a corner and didn't *quite* know how to get out, so the ending didn't do much for me. But it didn't ruin the book, it was still very interesting.

I didn't think much of Leila Meacham's "Roses", but I hoped "Tumbleweeds" would be better. It really wasn't. At least it wasn't a time suck, it was a pretty quick read. John, Trey, and Cathy grew up in the Texas panhandle, close as could be. Both John and Trey loved Cathy, but by high school it was Trey she choose. Trey and John, both football stars, are accepted to the University of Miami. Trey finds out a bout of mumps left him sterile right about the time Cathy tells him she's pregnant. Feeling betrayed by his best friend and his girlfriend (because obviously who else's baby could it be?) Trey takes off for Miami, refusing to have anything to do with Cathy, who is left wondering why he'd abandon her and their child. Other stuff was happening, too, but honestly, it isn't worth remembering, it was mostly preposterous. Oh well.

On My Own; Psychopath Whisperer

"On My Own" by Florence Falk is a self help book about how to live a full and happy life as a single woman, to get past the idea that you need a man in your life in order to be fulfilled. It's not an easy thing to give up on your dreams, and she argues you don't have to, that you can do everything on your own. I don't know about that, but I'm making more of an effort to enjoy things on my own without thinking I can't do them because I don't have a partner.

"The Psychopath Whisperer" by Kent Kiehl was absolutely fascinating. Dr. Kiehl has spent his life studying the brains of psychopaths, MRI scanning them, conducting extensive research, and over his career he has proven that their brains are different than a normal person's. Dr. Kiehl would like to find a way to diagnose psychopaths early, while they are still young, and get them the treatment they need before they become a danger to society. It was very interesting, even though it did get a bit science-y at times for me :)

Mr. Mercedes; James Gandolfini

Stephen King's latest, "Mr. Mercedes", is a brilliant example of what an amazing writer he is even if he isn't writing horror or supernatural. He gets you to care about characters in just a few simple paragraphs, which is why when bad things happen to them (and it's an SK book, so you know they will) it hurts so much. Mr. Mercedes is a brutal killer. Retired detective Bill Hodges didn't catch him before retiring. A year after, Hodges is contemplating suicide when Mr. Mercedes reaches out, taunting him. With a renewed sense of purpose, Hodges is determined to catch this maniac and put him away for good. It was taunt and suspenseful and just plain *good*. This is the sort of book he writes occasionally that makes me sad that he's labeled a "horror" writer. Although it doesn't seem to matter too much these days, he's pretty universally popular. As he well should be! :)

In life, James Gandolfini was a very private person who didn't like to do interviews, and after his untimely death last year (sniffle) his friends and relatives continue to respect his wishes, so there wasn't anything terribly personal in Dan Bishchoff's "James Gandolfini: the Real Life of the Man Who Made Tony Soprano". Which is fine, it was nice to read such a respectful and loving tribute to a great man who happened to be a phenomenal actor. I rewatch "The Sopranos" all the time. There is a great picture in this book of Edie Falco at James's funeral, and when I saw it I started crying. The look on her face sums up what we lost by his early death, the great potential that was there. RIP, sir. You are truly missed.

Little Failure; Under Magnolia

I've got a thing for Russia. I don't know why, I just always have. I love reading about it, and listening to the language. I've been trying to learn to speak Russian for God knows how long, with little success (to be fair, I also tried to learn French, which equally little success). That's one reason why I wanted to read Gary Shteyngart's memoir, "Little Failure". He was born in Leningrad and came to America when he was seven. A Russian Jew, he had a hard time fitting in and learning the language and the customs, but eventually he did, and so did his parents. He still goes back to Russia all the time and feasts on the memories of his divided childhood. It was funny and poignant and I enjoyed learning more about Russia in the late 1970s.

Another great memoir, Frances Mayes's "Under Magnolia". Frances grew up in Georgia in the 1940s and 50s. Her parents fought constantly. Her father died young, her mother was an alcoholic. They were dependent on their grandfather, Daddy Jack, for their survival. All she wants to do is get out of the South. She briefly escapes further north to Virginia for college, and ends up spending most of her adult life in California and Tuscany before returning to the South. It totally put me in the mood to read Faulkner (of course!). I don't know what it is about the romanticism of the South, but it gets me every time.

The Way You Die Tonight; On the Rocks; Borderline

I really like Robert J. Randisi's Rat Pack mysteries. His latest, "The Way You Die Tonight", marginally features Edward G. Robinson, looking for Eddie G.'s help learning how to play poker for an upcoming film role. The mystery involves who killed Jack Entratter's secretary, Helen. Eddie G. gets Jake Espstein to come out from Brooklyn and his good friend Danny to help investigate, and also to keep him safe against Howard Hughes's goons. Hughes is in town and asking for Eddie G.'s help with locating a casino he could take over. When Eddie G. refuses, Hughes doesn't take it well. It was fun and quick, and hinted the next book would feature Jerry Lewis.

"On the Rocks" by Erin Duffy was much better than I was expecting it to be, I thought it would be light and fluffy, predictable, but I was pleasantly surprised. Abby is trying on wedding dresses when she learns through Facebook that her fiance (and boyfriend of 11 years) has gotten cold feet, called off the wedding, and is moving across the country to Arizona. Abby spends the next six months on the couch, eating ice cream and refusing to come out of her funk. It isn't helped by the fact that her younger sister announced *her* engagement on the day Abby and Ben broke up. Abby's friend Grace begs her to take a summer place in Newport, Rhode Island. Grace is planning on spending weekends out there and thinks the change of scenery would be good for Abby. Abby finally agrees, and challenges herself to get out of her comfort zone, meet new people, go out on dates. And she does! She has some bad dates, but she doesn't let it get her down. She spent most of the book verbally sparing with Bobby, one of Grace's friends who is also staying in Newport, so I assumed by the end of the book they would have hooked up, but no! They were still just friends, and Abby was still single but very happy with her personal growth and the new friends she had made. I really liked how it wasn't corny or hokey.

"Borderline" by Lawrence Block was a novella and a collection of short stories he'd originally written in the late 50s and early 60s. Gritty, dark noir featuring killers, violence, gambling, all kinds of sex, drinking, drugs. It was pretty good, I enjoyed the novella and the last short story the best. Very Mickey Spillane-esque :)