Ye Olde Partners Page

*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Proofread carefully to see if you any words out . . ."
--Anonymous

Editors' Note: David Wong has been wronged. In the previous Partners Page, B. Traven Jr. highlighted David Wong's This Book is Full of Spiders (9780312546342) 25.99 as his choice for the winner of The B. Traven Award in the children's category. I have been informed that this is not a children's title. In fact with its surfeit of R-rated humor and graphic horror scenes, a reader could not possibly find a less kid friendly title than this book. In all fairness, one can only surmise what type of insane, demented tomes that Mr. Traven would classify as a children's title and then share with his little B. Travens. This is yet another example of why book reviews should not be tackled by amateurs, but instead should be left to professionals like . . .

THE ALPHABETICAL ADVENTURES OF BIBLIOMAN
(The Case of the Diet Dalliance Dilemma)

I am Biblioman, Defender of Readers Everywhere! With another holiday season under my belt (as well as a large quantity of ham, turkey, chocolate candy, and eggnog), I am ready to honor my New Year's resolution and I will get back into crime fighting shape for the upcoming year. Spandex can be very unforgiving . . .

So let me pop the lock on my hermetrically sealed titanium bookbag, reach in here and see what my local bookseller has picked out for me from the wild and woolly world of dieting:

Dr. Ian Smith's Shred: The Revolutionary Diet (9781250035868) 24.99
I wonder if he is any relation to Dr. Zachary Smith from Lost in Space? *Looks at cover* Definitely not, but he has the physique that I'm striving for. It's a maybe.

Lyn-Genet Recitas' The Plan: Etc. (9781455515486) 25.99
Well, first of all, what kind of name is that? It does not sound very American to me. She's not a doctor and she's involved in that holistic mumbo-jumbo. Next.

Dave Zinczenko & Peter Moore's The 8 Hour Diet (9781609615901) 26.99
Hmmm, neither author is a doctor, but they were both editors at Men's Health, which sounds like a very manly publication. I think we have a winner.

There are also the old standbys in here, including: Vaccariello's The Digest Diet (9781606525432) 24.99, Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet (9780470913024) 14.95, and Pierre Dukan's The Dukan Diet (9780307887962) 26.00. But alas, French sounding weight loss gurus, I have made my choice and as a 'True American' there will be no flip-flopping. Evil-doers everywhere beware! The new and improved Biblioman is on the case!

Odds & Sods

If I had exchanged a Christmas gift with my youngest brother this year, I would have bought him Adam Makos' A Higher Call (9780425252864) 26.95. It is a true WWII story in the vein of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken (9781400064168) 27.00. He would have loved it.

With Black History Month right around the corner, Charles R. Smith's children's title Brick By Brick (9780061920820) 17.99 recounts how slaves were involved in the building of the White House. With the money earned from their work, some slaves were able to later purchase their freedom. Also, I would recommend Linda Tarrant-Reid's Discovering Black America (9780810970984) 29.95.

Happy bookselling!