Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need

 

By Dave Barry

Dave takes a goofy look at travel both international and domestic. He talks about travel by vehicle or by plane, with and without children. He goes after Disney World and has a few pithy words to say about every US state and our two neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Except for Vermont, which only gets '(See "New Hampshire.").' 

After dealing with them, he then takes on Europe and closes out the book with hotels and camping.

Dave Barry is his usual hilarious self in this book. A great read if you are looking to have a good chuckle. 

A Deal With the Devil

By Elizabeth O'Roark

Two beautiful young people who carry baggage from failed relationships, for which they blame themselves. Of course we know when these two get together they are going to fall in love. They will have intimate relations. But will their baggage keep them trapped in their past mistakes? Of course not, this is a romance novel! And yes, there are steamy sex scenes. Can't sell a romance these days without graphic sex scenes.

Can you tell I was a tad disappointed by this story? I thought it was going to be a fantasy story. Well, it is a fantasy in that both these people are so perfect and smart and yet amazingly stupid at the same time. But it was not a supernatural fantasy. It's just an typical romance story. And if the hero is a "devil," the author doesn't really know what a devil is. Yes, he is demanding and testy. But almost immediately he shows his true nature, which decent and kind.

Anyway, hero is a extremely successful plastic surgeon is Los Angeles. Heroine is a failing author who used her advance on her first novel to take care of her dysfunctional family. She goes to work for Mr. Successful Physician because, even though she has been warned he's a pill, the pay makes it worthwhile. You know the rest. 

Warning! If you are looking for lots of steamy sex, it takes these two forever to get down to business. But when they finally do, the sex should be steamy enough to satisfy the reader who is looking for that. 

 

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures

By Shelby Van Pelt

A mystery story without a murder and a detective (of sorts) who isn't a mammal.

The "detective" is an observant old octopus that lives in an aquarium in a town, Sowell Bay, on the West Coast of the USA. We find out, later in the story, that the octopus was a rescue who was injured and given to the aquarium to rehabilitate and ended up staying there.

The octopus, who is called Marcellus, has a close friend at the aquarium, an older lady, Tova, who comes in to clean in the evening after the aquarium is closed. Tova knows a secret about Marcellus. That he knows how to escape his tank and he travels around the aquarium at night, visiting the other tanks and snacking on the other creatures displayed there. Tova discovered him tangled up and stuck one night and she freed his from his bonds. 

Marcellus knows he is quite elderly, octopuses only live three to four years, and his time is running out. But he has developed a bond with Tova and he senses things about her and knows she still grieves the loss of her only son, Erik, who was just eighteen when disappeared one day while out boating. His body was never found and exactly what happened to him not known. 

Tova has an accident at work and has to take a few weeks off to heal. The aquarium hires a man who is new to the area to handle the cleaning until Tova returns to work. Cameron has come to town looking for the man he hopes is his father. Cameron's mom never revealed who his father was and she vanished from Cameron's life when he was just a youngster. Cameron has reason to believe that a man from Sowell Bay may be the man he is looking for. But he has not been able to confront the man, who always seems to be away on business. About to run out of money, Cameron takes the janitor job at the aquarium.

Marcellus quickly discovers some very interesting information about Cameron, information that Tova needs to know. But getting that info to Tova is going to take all his octopussy wiles to accomplish. And when he succeeds, Tova repays him in the kindest way possible.

This was a charming story, especially the interactions between Tova and Marcellus and his ruminations on his life in the aquarium and on the humans who come to peer at him. All the characters in the story are decent, caring people, sometimes a little misguided, but essentially good at heart. Even the man for whom Cameron came to Sowell Bay to find.

 

 

You Might Be A Redneck If ...

By Jeff Foxworthy

A collection of Jeff's jokes about rednecks, with lots of amusing drawings included.

 Here are some of the jokes from the book:

You might be a redneck if . . .

"Your richest relative buys a new house and you have to help take the wheels off of it."

"You ever used lard in bed."

"You've ever been blacklisted from a bowling alley."

"The primary color of your car is 'Bond-O'."

A couple of the drawings from the book:

A fun little book full of Jeff's silly jokes, quite an enjoyable read.