Books, Bibles and Beasts

Good morning bookies! Stand by for news.

For future reference, NR means Now Reading and JF means Just Finished.

NR: Black Hats by Patrick Culhane, nom de plume for Max Allan Collins, who seems bent on challenging Robert J. Randisi for world's most prolific writer.
JF: Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter. Bob the Nailer is back and not at all happy that someone tried to kill his daughter. Full review will be in the next iloveamysterynewsletter.
And just so Sally, my editor, doesn't panic, yes, I know I'm supposed to be reading Germania. Have faith. And for those of you who have not read ILAM yet, check it out and read my Tana French reviews. The Likeness will, in all likelihood, be my Crime Book of the Year, for which Ms. French will receive an old newspaper with my autograph.

*** Specialists in used and rare books are seeing an upswing in people selling not only individual books, but also collections, to try and make it through a slower economic period. Been there, done that. If you've read any of my history of collecting and selling on this site, you'll know that at one time I had a pretty extensive comic book collection that would be worth a fortune today, but when times were tough food took priority. It happens, no shame. It's why people like me are around, to help those who need to sell their collections to make ends meet. We're altruists.

Anyway, out of North Carolina comes this story of the economy's effects on some collectors.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20081011/ARTICLES/810110256/0/ENTERTAINMENT11?Title=Some_willing__to_sell_rare_books_for_gas_money

*** When is a Bible not a good thing? Ever? (It's a rhetorical question. If you're an atheist, fine, I get it, you don't need to reiterate your stance) Over the years there have been a number of Bible editions that seek to draw in disaffected youth, to make it seem relevant to those who might otherwise overlook it. There's nothing new in this. Try owning a Catholic Bible in Elizabethan England and keeping your head; good luck with that. And whenever such a new edition appears it raises hackles and generally irritates a certain segment of believers who believe that their beliefs and method of belief are the 'right ones.' Thus it is with this newest edition of the Bible. Call it a genuine attempt to interest young people in Christianity. Call it cynical marketing. It could be both, or neither.

http://www.illuminatedworld.com/products/

*** A special treat for you SFF fans out there. Rudy Rucker has a short story you can read online at Tor's website. Go immerse yourself in some entertaining high level math.

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=story&id=6644

*** I really hesitated before filing this next bit. As you may already know, Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. It almost seems that if you are a really, really talented humorist from the UK, then you are cursed to a shorter career than you deserve. I'm thinking Douglas Adams here. Anyway, Pratchett has written a piece on what it's like to have this horrible disease. Be warned, however, this is not going to have a happy ending. NOTE: If you want to read the story, use the below link. For some reason you cannot link directly to the story. So type in Terry Pratchett at the search box and it's the first story that comes up in the list.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1070673/Terry-Pratchett-Im-slipping-away-bit-time--I-watch-happen.html

*** Finally, it seems to be a bad period to be a dead Beatle. John Lennon is excoriated as a 'misogynistic beast' in a new biography. I'd like to hear his side of the story.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10122008/news/nationalnews/give_beast_a_chance_133215.htm

Signing off for now.