photos and descriptions of what makes our world a pleasure
emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area but also far beyond

BOOKS

The Starboard Sea (review)

April 12, 2012

If I were able to write a novel, the kind of novel I’d hope to be able to write is the one I just finished reading, The Starboard Sea, by Amber Dermont. Usually, I read for entertainment–not quite trash, but definitely escapist stuff. The Starboard Sea is none of that. All of us in our [...]

Eliot Pattison’s Ashes of the Earth: A Mystery of Post-Apocalyptic America

May 14, 2011

Something new out of something old There are many types of sleuths and mysteries beyond Mrs. Marple in Agatha Christie’s locked-room cozies or the hard-boiled private eye, Philip Marlowe, in Raymond Chandler’s yarns. One of the many types is the police procedural that’s become the tired mainstay of so much television fare. Yet, a master [...]

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The Eliot Pattison Inspector Shan series

January 1, 2011
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Beijing Yong He Gong Lamasery prayer wheel   In an earlier post, Mystery Series Set in Foreign Lands, there were some very interesting comments and suggestions. Additionally, I’ve been exposed, entirely by chance, to an author that I’ve become addicted to: Eliot Pattison (eliotpattison.com/). That addiction began when a good friend gave me a book [...]

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Jeckll Island, Georgia

October 23, 2010
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amusements and pastimes There’s an interesting getaway a leisurely five hour drive from Tampa: Jeckll Island, Georgia (www.jekyllisland.com). View Larger Map The History of Jeckll Island page of the above website gives an encapsulated account of its history: “In 1886, Jekyll Island was purchased to become an exclusive winter retreat for America’s most elite families, [...]

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Mystery series set in foreign lands

August 28, 2010
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If you enjoy travel to foreign lands and if you enjoy mystery suspense series with a strong, memorable protagonist, then we share the love of a special niche in escapist fiction. I’m sure there are more such series, but there are four authors’ series that I know of. James Church‘s novels, featuring an Inspector O [...]

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E-book readers for PC

August 19, 2010

I’ve been debating getting an e-book reader ever since they first came out a couple years ago. They’re finally getting down into a price range where I might actually buy a dedicated e-reader at some point, but during the process of pondering the whole issue, I finally decided to buy a netbook because it’s multi-purpose [...]

I should have known better

August 3, 2010
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Hilton’s first “song”–age 3 For young (and old) composers, there are no books that really help you understand the process of composing music. I mean that word, “no,” quite literally. There’s not a single book that I know of that really deals with the process. The books that purport to be about composition are really [...]

St. Petersburg 2010 Antiquarian Book Fair

March 13, 2010
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    There’s one more day of the 29th Annual Antiquarian Book Fair at the St. Petersburg Coliseum (floridabooksellers.com/bookfair.html). It’s only $6 for the day–$5 if you pick up one of the many coupons around town. If you enjoy books, especially books from your childhood or books you remember seeing in your grandparent’s home libraries, [...]

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St. Petersburg Mirror Lake Library

June 6, 2009
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St. Petersburg is divided by a major street, Central Avenue, that runs East to West from the bay side all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. “Avenues” in St. Pete run East and West. “Streets,” North and South. Any street or avenue north of Central Avenue is North; any street or avenue south of [...]

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Lighthouse Books

December 6, 2008

  If you’re reading this blog, the chances are pretty good that you’re reading lots of other blogs, and if you’re doing that, the chances are even better that you’re a Reader (upper case “R” in case you missed it) and you read real books, too, and reading books has been an important part of [...]

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Escape to Tahiti

October 22, 2008

  Have you ever wanted to run away from home? Join the circus? Run a hot dog stand (we’ve talked about this before)? Sail away to Tahiti (you know: Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti,” going native like Gauguin, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Bali Hai“)? Of course; me too. Usually, my escapades are limited to day dreaming over [...]

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Wilson’s Bookworld

August 27, 2008

TS Fay is past and, as it turned out, Tampabay survived without being touched at all. Others weren’t so fortunate: there was much flooding on the east coast and at least 6 died as of the writing of this post. There really is no such thing as an insignificant tropical storm. Many thanks to Lucy [...]

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Haslam’s Bookstore

July 2, 2008

I mentioned in an earlier post that too many Tampans—and I was one like this—think of St. Pete as simply what you have to drive across to get to the beach. Early in my days as a person like that, there was one exception for me: Haslam’s Book Store (2025 Central Ave., St Petersburg, FL [...]

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