Marion Robichaux
December 30, 2009Jan. 5
January 4, 2010A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR BRAIN
By Judith Horstman
Scientific American, $25.95
This is a most enlightening, easy to read, book on the workings of our most important organ. (Some may argue that the heart is more important, but with a good heart and a dead brain, they pull the plug anyway.) You’ll learn why you do what you do: Rise early or sleep ’til dawn; take a simple test to determine when you’re at your best; and learn what foods help your brain work best. You’ll be smarter in the morning.
MAYO CLINIC Guide To PAIN RELIEF
By Barbara Bruce, Ph.D, and W. Michael Hooten, M.D.
Mayo Clinic Health Solutions, $29.95
Where does it hurt? Head, back, feet, all over? Pain eventually affects everyone and some pain seems to resist relief. Now come solutions for pain from one of the most authoritative sources in the country: the Mayo Clinic.
If you can’t take a trip to the clinic, the clinic comes to you in this helpful volume of medications, exercises and other non-traditional remedies for pain.
TOP PRODUCER
By Norb Vonnegut
Minotaur Books, $24.99
After Charlie Keleman dies in a bizarre, horrendous way in plain sight of hundreds of his party guests, his widow calls on their mutual friend, Grove O’Rourke, to help make sense of his finances. And help she needs because as Grove digs through Charlie’s dealings, he finds suspicious transactions but no money.
Grove soon finds himself the target of enemies of Charlie and with his life threatened, fights back.
This story could have been taken right off recent front pages except that Vonnegut, a Wall Street veteran himself, wrote it before the scandals broke. All in all, it’s a savvy and powerful thriller.
U is for UNDERTOW
By Sue Grafton
G.P. Putnam & Sons, $27.95
Kinsey Millhonne, Grafton’s inestimable Private Eye, has solved 20 cases before this one and appeared on every page in this alphabetical series, checking details, accosting suspects and always solving the case in her inimitable way.
Now, for some reason in volume 21, Grafton has alternated the story between Kinsey and the suspects who may or may not have kidnapped and killed a 4-year-old girl some 20 years before. That, according to 27-year-old Michael Sutton, whose memory of seeing two men burying something that could have been a body, is what prompts Kinsey to investigate.
The story swings between the decades and the characters and, frankly, I didn’t like it, which doesn’t mean I disliked the book. I just want Kinsey back on every page where she belongs.
N.O. Classic GUMBOS & SOUPS
N.O. Classic APPETIZERS
Both by Kit Wohl
Pelican Publishing, $15.95 each
First, you make a roux. Then, you’re on your way to making one of these tasty gumbos.
Don’t know how to make a roux? Ms Wohl will show you. She’s also photographed the mouth-watering gumbos, soups and bisques to accompany the 50 recipes from famous New Orleans chefs and from her family and friends.
Her book on appetizers features photos illustrating Crab Beignets, Crawfish Shooters, Marinated Louisiana Shrimp, Oysters Rockefeller and many more.
WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE 2010
By Richard N. Bolles
with illustrations by marita gentry
10 Speed Press, $18.99
This is the latest in the best selling Job-Hunting books by Bolles and appropriately for the times, is termed, “Hard Times Edition.”
In this and companion manual, “The Job Hunter’s Survival Guide ($9.99), he explains how to find work “even when there are no jobs,” and guides you through the application/hiring phases of the interview.
Either or both are essential for serious job hunters.
I CAN MAKE YOU SLEEP
By Paul McKenna Ph.D.
Sterling Publishers, $22.95
I’d like to tell you about this book but every time I start to read or listen to the accompanying CD, I fall asleep. Just kidding, but I do believe the author has got something right here with his explanations of the sleep process and avoiding the obstacles to having a good night’s rest.
Further, in both the text and his CD, he lays out a system of exercises and diet that will help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Now, please excuse me, I’m getting sleepy…getting sleepy…zzzzzzzz.
