Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Curse of the Holy Pail; Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth Hall; Fables Vol. 20: Camelot; Choose Your Own Autobiography

Sue Ann Jafarian's second Odelia Grey mystery, "Curse of the Holy Pail", was pretty good. An old client of Odelia's law firm, Sterling Price, has recently acquired a much sought after collectible item: a one of a kind lunchbox worth big bucks. Sterling is murdered and the lunchbox goes missing. Was it the gold digging ex-fiancee who was having an affair with Sterling's son Kyle? Was it Karla, Sterling's power hungry daughter, who was eager to take over her dad's company? Or was it Willie Proctor, the lunchbox's last owner, who faked his own death in order to escape the curse of the lunchbox? Odelia's got a lot of suspects to choose from in this one, and it was a lot of fun.


I have a weak spot for V.C. Andrews. I know, it's not her writing anymore, and it hasn't been for about 30 years, but I still read them, especially something like this, which is about the original first series. "Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth Hall" takes us back to Virginia. Kristin Masterworth, a distant cousin of the Foxworths, finds a diary on the site of Foxworth Hall, which is being torn down and rebuilt for a new investor. Kristin starts reading Christopher Dolllanganger's diary, one of the kids who was originally locked in the attic for almost four years. The diary has a strange pull on Kristin, and she finds herself neglecting the world around her to keep reading Christopher's story. It was cheesy as hell, but how can I pass up an opportunity to hear about the attic from Christopher's point of view?

Bill Willingham continues his Fables in Volume 20: Camelot. Rose Red is building a new Round Table and calls upon brave fables scattered all over the world to join her. Meanwhile, Snow White is still trying to get Bigby back. All the shattered glass has been reassembled, but there's one piece missing, and it's been hidden by Nurse Spratt. But why? Honestly, I don't even care anymore, but it's like hell, I've followed this series this long, I have to keep going.






I've always like Neil Patrick Harris. I mean, come on, who didn't love Doogie Howser? And I really liked him in HIMYM. Although I did recently watch "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and started questioning life. Good grief, that movie was dumb, but NPH was pretty funny in it. At any rate, "Choose Your Own Autobiography" was a fun way to tell his story, in that old "Choose Your Own Adventure" book format, and who didn't love those books as a kid? I know I did. He actually led a fairly normal life, all things considered, he's just been incredibly lucky, hardworking, and talented. Good for him.