It's Edgar Week,

the week when mystery writers celebrate the best mystery writing.  Every mystery writer pays homage to Edgar Allan Poe, so it's fitting that the MWA Awards are known as the Edgars and the week that the awards are announced, as Edgar Week.  And the nominees for Best Novel are:

The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Hus...
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For generations on end,

men and women have looked toward the heavens and been inspired to write poetry.  I'm no poet, but even in my own case, I managed to scratch out this haiku - 

I stare at the stars
counting the syllables in
Cassiopeia. 

But today's post isn't about me.  It's about B. Kliban.  When people remember Kliban (if they remember him at all) they think of him as the guy who drew all those cat cartoons.  But a closer look at his cartoon collections reveals that B. Kliban, at heart, w...

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I intended to do a photo essay
 
of my day yesterday at the Philadelphia Book Festival (the Free Library Festival), but when I checked my camera at the end of the day, I realized that I had only snapped one pic, early in the morning, before the book festival began, before even most of the set-up had begun.  So here's a look at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Vine Street early yesterday morning. 


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I had a great time at

the "Meet the Authors" event last night in Gloucester County.  The event, which was a collaborative effort of nine small libraries was a huge success.  The community turned out in large numbers for a chance to chat informally with the 41 authors who agreed to participate.  I shared a table with author Tom Wilk, who I had not met before last night.


Tom is a journalist by profession and is the co-author of two wonderful books about New Jersey - New Jersey Firsts: The Famo...
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Okay.  I get the point.

Times are tough for the airline industry.  I've gotten used to airlines that charge a fee for checked bags.  I don't like the idea, but I've grown accustomed to the practice.  So it's not really surprising that Spirit Air recently announced plans to charge a fee for certain carry-on luggage as well.  Normally I would call that an unreasonable fee, but then I read about Ryanair.

Ryanair (a European discount airline) intends to start charging a fee to use the lavatory.  Th...

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"Before leaving the house,

Big Jim ran his wife a bath.  While the tub filled, Rocki subjected herself to examination in the harsh bathroom light, the two mirrors positioned to permit her to check herself from every unflattering angle.  Rocki had warm green eyes and red hair falling like eternal summer waves on her beachfront shoulders.  Now that she was in her forties, Rocki knew, if she was not ever-vigilant, things would start to sag.  Big Jim didn't seem to notice, but Rocki couldn't ignor...
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It's the library.

When I was a little kid, I don't remember going to book stores, but I do remember going to libraries.  Every week, without fail, browsing the shelves, borrowing books, discovering new worlds.  I never gave much thought to how such a place could exist, why such a place would exist.  It was just the library.  Of course it was there.  It even had a great theme song.


This year, National Library Week (April 11-17) celebrates the theme "Communities thrive @ your library."  I've ha...
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