Angel Catbird by Margaret Atwood, Illustrated by Johnnie Christmas and Tamara Bonvillain (2017) Dark Horse Comics

A three-issue set written by the imitable Ms. Margaret Atwood.  It serves two purposes; 1) a fun and sometimes silly story about a superhero (?) who is part human, part cat, and part bird vs. a man who is part human and part rat.  And 2) a plea for people to keep their cats indoors so they won't get killed and won't decimate the songbird population.  Ms. Atwood obviously enjoyed herself as the writing exposes her trademark wit.  Worth spending the afternoon reading.

Split Second by David Baldacci (2003) Grand Central Publishing

The first of the King and Maxwell books.  They have something to be ashamed of in common.  Both have lost a presidential candidate while in the Secret Service.  King eight years previously when he was distracted during an orchestrated assassination, just enough time for the shooter to kill the man he was supposed to be protecting; a hateful man who had no chance of winning the race.  Maxwell, now, also protecting a man whom everyone hopes has no chance of winning.  Only hers is kidnapped.  And a man who was in WITSEC and worked for King’s legal office has been killed in the office with King’s gun while King was on his weekly volunteer deputy patrol.  A joint task force is formed between the U.S. Marshall’s office, the Secret Service and the FBI.  No one can trace the kidnappers.  Then more people are killed and more are kidnapped.  It’s up to King and Maxwell to solve the mystery and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

School for Dark Thoughts by Charles Simic (1978) Charles Seluzicki

I went by appointment to the Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC Chapel Hill to see a copy in the Rare Books Collection.

Hand printed and hand bound, signed - #84 of 235 copies.  First sheet is not part of the binding (without it, the copy would be incomplete).

Interesting page layout by the printer – no isolation of poems, once a poem ends, the next starts on the same page.  A set number of lines per page printed - if a poem or stanza hits the line limit, the next line is on the next page - a little jarring at times.

Simic tends to use quatrains but not always.  Often, he capitalizes each line.  But in some poems, only the first word of a sentence or stanza is capitalized.

The original copy sold for $22.50 (penciled on a blank page).  Now some of the 235 copies sell for over $150.00.

The pamphlet includes eight poems:

1. The Stream
2. School for Dark Thoughts (title poem)
3. The Great Anonymous Eye and Ear
4. Window Washer
5. The Guest (longest poem – 3 pages)
6. Note Slipped Under a Door
7. Peaceful Kingdom
8. Whispers In the Next Room

Symphony for a Deadly Throne by E.J. Mellow (2023) Montlake

In which the oldest sister of the Mousai is given an invitation to compete for the throne of the Thief Kingdom, and the impact it has on her love life and her family.  A new character is introduced who has her own impact on the people around the central story.  All is not necessarily well that ends.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984) Arte Publico Press

A year in the life of a 12-year-old Chicana in Chicago in the 1960’s and living in the house on Mango Street.  Told as a series of vignettes, it shows the world and the city from the perspective of Hispanic girls navigating the change from girl to womanhood.  Learning too early and too late about growing up.

One Fearful Yellow Eye by John D MacDonald (1978) Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

A curiosity that feels like the wheels went flat, then reveals what you should have realized all along.  McGee is given a call for help from a woman in Chicago that he acted as matchmaker for a few years earlier.  A considerable sum has gone missing from her husband’s accounts.  The kids blame the new wife, the cook blames her wayward daughter.  McGee has other suspicions.

“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway (1933) Scribner’s Magazine (also appeared in the collection Winner Take Nothing)

Hemingway sets the scene in few words.  A deaf old man sits in front of a café, late at night and continues to order brandies.  There are two waiters who carry the conversation of the story.  The younger of the two wants the old man to finish and leave so he can go home.  The older waiter is patient and willing to allow the old man to stay as long as he wants.  For the older waiter, it’s a matter of pride to run a clean well-lighted café.