DVD Review: 17 Again

17 Again, released on DVD this summer, will take you back to the good old days of high school, but how good were they really? That is the dilemma Mike O’Donnell, portrayed by former Friends star, Matthew Perry, faces in this comedy about a thirty-something “loser” who goes back to his glory days of “being big man on campus.” Teen heart-throb, Zac Efron, displays his capable acting abilities, as Mike at age seventeen, who must deal with his feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife, (Leslie Mann) and must come to grips with his own childrens' teen angst and problems, while attending classes with them. Character actor,Thomas Lennon, steals the show as Mike’s nerdy best friend all “grown up” and pursuing the school’s single principal. The movie leaves you with a thankful feeling that you can enjoy adult life, but the same “what if” questions might also nag you about your choices during those pivotal high school years. -Kathy (Sunset)

Scary Movies

Give yourself nightmares with one of the following horror films:
Fog

Urban Legend

The Craft

The Sixth Sense

Candyman

1408

A Nightmare on Elm Street

The Amityville Horror

Dracula

Halloween

The Shining

Carrie

Rosemary's Baby

The Blair Witch Project

Poltergeist

Psycho

The Others

The Witching Hour

Ghosts not your thing? Get in the mood for Halloween by reading about witches!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman

The Book of Spirits by James Reese

The Limits of Enchantment by Graham Joyce

The Book of Shadows by James Reese

The Black Cat by Robert Poe

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

Witches and Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old and New

2010 OneBookAZ

Arizona readers have spoken! The 2010 OneBookAZ title is The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd by Jana Bommersbach. During the month of September readers across Arizona voted to read this title in April 2010, when we'll celebrate our 9th year of reading the same book together as a state.

Audiobook Review: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

Sandman Slim is a Hell of a guy, written by Richard Kadrey, read by Macleod Andrews, and reviewed by Star Lawrence

Okay, here is the setup: A negative thinker named James Butler Stark is a naturally gifted magician in an LA group called the Sub Rosa. He ticks them off with his smart-alecky approach to magic and gets dragged into Hell, known as “Downtown,” for 11 years. Of course, being forced to fight supernatural beings in an arena in Hell for over a decade, he builds up some resentment and steals the key to everything, including Earth, and comes back for revenge.

With me so far?

Oh—and this is funny!

Stark lops off heads, makes the heads watch infomercials in a dark closet, and says when you have nothing left and are starting over on Earth, you really only care whether you own socks or not.

As he rages around looking for his old buddies, he runs afoul of Homeland Security, which is of course hooked up with angels (on the side of, get it?) and starts Stark raving about “angel hoo-doo”—he is not a fan.

None of his buds from Hell are here (only the boss Lucifer can get out), but there are angels…and some other in-between unsavories called “kissi.” Turns out these unworthies are the real bad guys—and the hellions are really just sports-minded scum. Who cares—they can’t get out anyhow.

So now Stark is after the kissi—the ones who really dragged him Downtown and killed his one-true-love Alice.

You can grab your weapon of choice and hear the rest. As Stark puts it—“This is a booty call to a massacre.” The narrator, Macleod Andrews, reads Stark as an ironic sort of hell cat, and I have to say, this audiobook is full-on groovy.

Star Lawrence owns a recession blog called Do the Hopey Copey, at http://hopeycopey.blogspot.com. She can be reached at jkellaw@aol.com.

Haunting Sagas

Get in the mood for Halloween by reading one of the following ghostly tales!

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Seance by John Harwood

The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill

The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman

For more ghost tales, attend Ghost Hunting: So How Does That Work? at our Hamilton Branch on October 28 at 6:00. The Arizona Paranormal Research Society T.Az.P.R.S. will be demonstrating and explaining the tools they use during ghost hunting investigations as well as sharing Evps and photos from some of their best cases. Registration required.Ages 14 and up

Call 480-782-2828 or click here to register.

Audiobook Review: The Watchman by Robert Crais

Laconic bodyguarding is a specialty in The Watchman by Robert Crais, read by James Daniels, and reviewed by Star Lawrence

Does the concept of an ex-Marine, ex-cop dashing around LA trying to keep a hot heiress safe from South American hit men grab you? What if that Marine/ex-cop was your beloved Joe Pike of Elvis Cole/Joe Pike fame? Are you in?

Instead of his growly guest appearances in private detective Elvis Cole books, Pike takes this one over, bodyguarding the brash young Larkin Connor Barkley, who has happened into some weird action when blasting her Aston-Martin through empty LA streets at 4 am.

No matter what safe house Pike puts her in—or even finds for her himself—the scuzzies show up an hour later to blast Larkin into giblets. Someone is selling her out. Time is short to find out who the heck these people are and why they want her dead. All the people involved in the early dawn accident are already dead, except for Larkin.

Assisted by his wisecracking buddy Elvis Cole, Pike tries to second-guess everyone who knows him or Larkin—to no avail. In the front door of a safe house—and the bad guys are sneaking in the back door and are in need of some decimating.

James Daniels is the perfect reader for this, doing Pike in a slow, flat, reluctant voice—darn, I hate to use my vocal cords, how many times have I told you that? Elvis Cole comes off as the motor mouth, funny younger brother type. Larkin is no Paris Hilton, either—she is by turns scared, irritated, and a little enamored of her capable protector.

Apparently, when she is not on the run, her usual male companions don’t clean their guns every night, buy her vegan meals, or understand when she sneaks out to dance on a bar amidst shouting Armenians.

By the way—the title, The Watchman, makes no sense. Where do they get these titles sometimes?

Star Lawence is a long-time writer and owns a recession site called Do the Hopey Copey, at http://hopeycopey.blogspot.com. She can be reached at jkellaw@aol.com.

Book Review: In the President's Secret Service by Ronald Kessler

In the President’s Secret Service, a new book about protecting our Commander in Chief, by Ronald Kessler, is a quick read full of interesting tidbits about past presidents’ quirks, preferences, and personality traits. Kessler also does a nice job explaining the history of the President’s security force and goes into great detail about past assassins’ attempts and breaches of security that the public never knew existed for our first family.
However, the book would flow much better if chapters were more chronological in nature and didn’t jump from the Kennedy administration to more dry, historical facts from the turn of the century. The reader will enjoy learning about Reagan’s dependency on his wife’s advice and the uncivilized antics of the Johnson years. Many embarrassing and very private scenarios are revealed about the Presidents and their families, but I’m not sure the public needed to know that Jimmy Carter treated the staff “disrespectfully” and lied about drinking alcohol in the White House. The public needs to understand that our leaders are human and have flaws like all of us. Enjoy In the President’s Secret Service for the rich history about the protective detail and the challenges it faces everyday on the job. -Kathy (Sunset)

Man Booker Prize Announced

The most presitigious literary prize in Britain was awarded today to Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Read more about the prize and the other nominees at the prize web page.