SERIOUS SALE NEWS

Announcing our HUGE winter clearance sale! 

50% off almost everything, 20% off the rest!

Lasts through 3:00pm on December 30th

What's 20% off?
Anything marked "New" or "Net"
Pulps and Related Materials
Signed and Limited Edition Books
Vintage Football Programs and Movie Posters
Items in a display case or behind the front counter

What's 50% off?
Everything Else! 

Booklovers, Take Note:
Curious will revert to our Winter Hours, beginning Jan. 2nd.
We'll be closing at 7pm most nights, rather than 8, in an effort to gain a wee bit more reading time. More information is available at curiousbooks.com.


A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
- Edgar Guest

Read More...

Ray's Reviews: Go Spartans by Darla Hall

        If you’re getting ready for the big football game on New Year’s Eve, the
phrase “Go Spartans” is likely to be on your mind.

        It’s also the title of a colorful new 48-page oversize paperback, selling
for $14.99. Attractively designed as an activity book, it can provide fun
for the whole family.

        This is an ideal choice for the die-hard Spartan fan, particularly if you
have 6-to-12 year-old children.

        This book was created by Darla Hall, from Birmingham AL. and her
business, In the Sports Zone. She developed it initially as a gift for a
young boy she knew who was hit by a car and broke both of his legs.

        A portion of the profit is donated as activity books for children
in local hospitals.

         It is part of a nation-wide series of over 100 books promoting
collegiate sports as well as professional baseball and football teams.
It’s organized to be useful this season or actually any season – since no
sports stars are mentioned by name.

        The book opens with a few pages for drawing, allowing you to describe
your winning football or basketball play. There’s also a page where you
can draw yourself, family, friends or favorite player.

        Other highly-creative sections offer games, mazes, connect the dots,
trivia, word searches, cut-outs, a crossword puzzle, MSU facts and song
information.

        A dozen pages are devoted to “Dream Teams”, where you can design your own
MSU Dream Team, with spaces for names, positions and personal data.
Included are areas where you can create your own card front or back
designs.

        There are four pages at the end of the book designated as writing
sections, where you can become creative, noting what you would do if you
were selected as the team coach, what you love about Spartan football
and more.

        An attractive page of MSU related decals are tipped in at the rear of the
book. Information is also provided on how to download your free app at
the ITunes Store.

        Adults with considerable time on their hands may find it challenging to
count how many times the Sparty symbol, Block S or Spartan logo appear
throughout the book. I gave up when I counted almost 200 of them!

        Ray Walsh is the owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed
Michigan books and crime novels regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on December 27, 2015.

Read More...

Ray's Reviews - Coloring Book Edition: The Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford

       If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift, here’s a quick look at
an unusual book that’s likely to give the recipient many hours of
relaxing entertainment.

        “The Enchanted Forest” by Johanna Basford (King, $15.95) is a wonderful
collection of intricate drawings that are meant to be hand-colored.

        While it’s great for high-energy kids who need something to occupy their
time (other than the internet!), this book has sold amazingly well as
escape therapy for exhausted adults who need relaxation. It may also be
used as a coloring project for families.

        The thick over-sized paperback is described as “An Inky Quest and
Coloring Book”. It challenges the reader to track down items that are
drawn into the images throughout, including 40 birds, 36 fish, 16
gargoyles, 14 butterflies, two unicorns and a cat, among others.

        There are also nine symbols carved into square tablets that need to be
discovered- so the castle door can be unlocked. Then the quest will be
over and one will discover what lies within.

        An Enchanted Forest Key is provided at the end of the book, so the
colorist knows exactly what hidden images appear on each page.

        The colorist must then draw the nine symbols – (just finding them isn't
enough!); turning the next few pages create an additional unexpected
fold-out surprise.

        If you don’t have colored pencils easily available, you may want to get
some - this is not a book that works well with magic markers or even
crayons.

        Most felt pens will unfortunately leak color though to the other side;
the best type of markers are Staedtler triplus fineliner marking pens
with a 0.3 mm point.

        The creator and illustrator has also produced “Secret Garden”, an earlier
book with a similar design, that has sold over 1.5 million copies and has
been translated into 36 languages.

        Johanna Basford is a Scottish illustrator; her third book, “Lost Ocean”
came out very recently by a different American publisher but drew
complaints - thinner paper was used in the production.

        Coloring books for grown-ups are part of a growing national trend – a few
years ago, it was a marginal market at best.

        “Enchanted Forest” should come with a warning label – it’s so addictive
you may want to buy an extra copy for yourself!

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed books

regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on December 20, 2015.

Read More...

Ray's Reviews: The Promise by Robert Crais

        “The Promise” by Robert Crais (Putnam, $27.95) is the latest novel in his
bestselling series starring private eye Elvis Cole and his sidekick, Joe
Pike.

        They’re joined by LAPD Officer Scott James and his K-9 partner Maggie in
the follow-up to “Suspect”.

        This time out, Cole, who modestly bills himself as “The World’s
Greatest Detective”, gets hired by Meryl Lawrence. She wants Cole to
track down Amy Bryslen, a co-worker who has just vanished.

        Breslyn is a chemical engineer with a background in explosives. Her
journalist son was killed by a bomb seven months earlier in Nigeria.
She’s distraught and has taken $460,000 from a corporate bank account.

        Cole follows up on a few leads that Lawrence gives him and quickly finds
himself in deep trouble.

         He’s checking out a small house in Echo Park where a friend of Breslyn’s
is supposed to live.  A fugitive from the police runs into the house; he’s soon dead.

        A violent killer called Mr. Rollins was in the house but leaves as police
swarm in.

        Cole is a witness, he saw the man running out; James and Maggie see the
fleeing suspect but can’t track him down.

        When a large cache of explosives are found at the house, the plot quickly
becomes more complicated.

        Targeted by police who think that Cole is deeply involved, the quirky
private investigator calls Pike and his mercenary friend John Stone in to
help.

        Meanwhile, nasty Mr. Rollins is trying to eliminate James and his dog;
the pair are taken off the case but continue to work with Cole and Pike.

        While you may need a scorecard to track of all of the characters, the
author does an excellent job shifting viewpoints frequently. Some
chapters are deftly relayed as situations seen from a dog’s viewpoint!

        Ulterior motives abound and there’s continuous deception – but Crais
never disappoints the reader. It’s a fast-paced novel could easily be
torn from tomorrow’s headlines – contemporary crime fiction at its best!

         If you haven’t read any other Crais novels, it’s not too late to start –
he’s written excellent stand-alone novels and many others in the Elvis
Cole/Joe Pike series.

        Crais, who also scripted many Hollywood tv shows, was part of MSU’s
Clarion Writer’s Workshop in the 1970’s.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed crime

novels and Michigan books regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on December 13, 2015.

Read More...

Ray's Reviews: Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen

        “Playing With Fire” by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine, $28) is a stand-alone
novel by the author of the best-selling Rizzoli and Isles medical
thrillers.


        This is a disturbing tale that’s set in the present - and in the past;
it’s a love story – and a hate story. There’s music and laughter -
there’s death and destruction.


        It’s not what Gerritsen’s loyal fans are used to, but it’s a
well-crafted, carefully plotted, unusual literary thriller.


        It begins when violinist Julia Ansdell discovers a unique hand-written
piece of music inside of an old book that she purchases at an antique
shop in Rome.


        Back home in Boston, Julia plays the captivating composition in front of
Lisa, her 3-year old daughter, getting violent, unexpected results.


        Gerritsen then flashes back to Venice in 1938, focusing on 18-year-old
Lorenzo Todesco. He’s a young Jewish student who has inherited a violin
that once belonged to his grandfather’s grandfather.


        Lorenzo’s father has a small violin repair shop; one of his customers,
Professor Balboni, has a 17-year-old daughter, Laura, who plays the
cello.


        The professor suggests that the 2 students play together at a music
competition held at a local university. Before he meets her, Lorenzo is
reluctant; he has a vivid imagination, but is pleasantly surprised.


        Lorenzo creates a complex piece of music for the competition – the
Incendio waltz – a distinctive composition that seems to have a life of
its own.


        Gerritsen then returns to the present, with Julia trying to figure out
what’s causing her young daughter’s reactions.


        In her search for answers, Julia goes to Venice, where she traces the
lives of Lorenzo, Laura and their families.  The novel gets more complex
as the plots intertwine; Julia discovers that she is in dangerous
territory; she’s become a target for a family with deadly secrets.

        The author masterfully increases the tension, exposing many dark aspects
and horrors of life in Fascist Italy and nearby areas, before and during
World War II.

        In a section of historical notes, Gerritsen discloses why she wrote the
novel and the challenges she faced in researching it. There’s also a
brief useful bibliography.

        “Playing with Fire” is a thought-provoking tale with images likely to
linger long after the last page is turned.

        More information is available online at tessgerritsen.com.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed crime

novels and Michigan books regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on December 6, 2015.

Read More...