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

BOOKS

The Eliot Pattison Inspector Shan series

January 1, 2011
Thumbnail image for The Eliot Pattison Inspector Shan series

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 [...]

Jeckll Island, Georgia

October 23, 2010
Thumbnail image for Jeckll Island, Georgia

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, [...]

Mystery series set in foreign lands

August 28, 2010
Thumbnail image for Mystery series set in foreign lands

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 [...]

St. Petersburg 2010 Antiquarian Book Fair

March 13, 2010
Thumbnail image for St. Petersburg 2010 Antiquarian Book Fair

    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, [...]

St. Petersburg Mirror Lake Library

June 6, 2009
Thumbnail image for St. Petersburg Mirror Lake Library

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Unless specifically attributed otherwise, all Inkwatu content Copyright © 2008-2010 Hilton Kean Jones