The name of my blog this week should be Seattle's Snowy Day Book Blog. Yesterday the area received more snow than it has in years. A welcome sight for the children who get out of school but not so welcome for everybody who is still trying to engage in commerce.
So let's talk books. The Christian Science Monitor has just released their list of the Top 10 out-of-print books. Number 1 on the list is "Once a Runner: A Novel" (1978) a distance running novel. It will be back in April 2009.
Also on the list this year was "A Lion Called Christian" (1972) by Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall. If you are not one of the 44 million who viewed the YouTube video you can click here. The video has clearly renewed interest in the book and it is also being reprinted in April 2009.
Another interesting entry at #8 is "Legally Sane" (1972) by Jon K Hahn. It is about the serial killer Mark Smith who killed many woman in the United States and Germany in the 1960's and 1970's. Reviewers say it is really well done and very informative. If you like true crime you'll have to do a lot of searching because it is not currently scheduled to be printed again.
In other interesting news the book I reviewed a couple of days ago, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, is getting some new jabber. Apparently Ecco, Wroblewski's publisher, has announced that David will be writing 2 prequels to Edgar Sawtelle. In them he will be delving into the lives of Edgar's father and uncle. I look forward to seeing his new work.
Now on a completely different note I have to mention the movie I watched last night "Expiration Date." It was aired on PBS and billed as a "love letter to Seattle." The TV Guide only gave it 2 stars but it was a great movie especially for us localites. The movie was an unexpected surprise for me because the trailers that I had seen seemed somber and sad and I knew that it was about a young man who believes that he is cursed to die on his 25th birthday.
So it was great to find that it was terribly funny. The performances were outstanding especially by David Keith who some of you may remember as Richard Gere's best buddy in "An Officer and a Gentleman." The scenes in the coffee shop where the main character works are hilarious. All of the moments with his boss, his customers and his ex-girlfriend are great and so Seattleish!
I won't give you a full review but I will say that it is a 5 star movie and I would recommend it to anyone especially if you're familiar with Seattle. It will be available on Amazon for $17.99 on January 27th and you can pre-order now.
My mother-in-law lives in Washington and she said they got quit a bit of snow. I'm living in California and there's no snow, but it is cold. The "Expiration Date" sounds like it was good, too bad I missed it.
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