The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Bill Bryson)

When I was a kid, every day was packed with ten times the activities I’d dream of doing now. Most of it was spontaneous, like finding out what kind of dog was barking on the next block. All of it was important, like finding out what the school looked like upside down. I remember knowing [...]

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Noises Off (Michael Frayn)

There’s something deliciously sneaky about reading a script. You see the actors fussing about on the stage when you watch a play, but you have access to the actors’ code book — the stage directions — when you read a play. It’s almost like you’re privvy to their secrets. It opens up a whole new [...]

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)

QUICK TAKE: It’s not easy being a middle school kid. Just ask Gregory Heffley, the narrator in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons. The boy who figures he’s “somewhere around 52nd and 53rd most popular” in school relates an entire year of fun and mishaps in his journal. Using simple [...]

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The Areas of My Expertise (John Hodgman)

Ever wonder how much you should tip a hotel’s starling boy? Or its melancholier? Or its feral turn-down service? Do you even know what these are? Neither did I … until I came upon John Hodgman’s The Areas of My Expertise [LibraryThing / WorldCat], an almanac of miscellaneous facts with a twist: It’s a pack [...]

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J.P. Patches: Northwest Icon (Chris Wedes)

J.P. Patches was interviewed on the radio yesterday. His wonderful television show started fifty years ago this week. My goodness! Who is J.P. Patches? He’s a legend in the Seattle area. For 23 years — the longest run for a local children’s program in the country — the J.P. Patches Show aired every morning on [...]

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Unshelved (Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum)

I’ll admit it. I’m not above comics. In fact, I read every Foxtrot collection that comes out. Most of the Dilberts, too. And why not? There’s no rule saying that everything you read has to be 200+ pages of seriousness with chapters, end notes, and an index. Comic strips can be every bit as funny [...]

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Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches? (Mike O’Connor)

Taking my cue from the title, I imagined Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches? [LibraryThing / WorldCat] to be on of those 1001 questions answered sorts of books. You know the type: modestly informative but sleep-inducing. Mike O’Connor’s book was nothing of the sort. It is a collection of questions and answers, but O’Connor’s informal personality [...]

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