*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"My
professional aspirations were simple --
I wanted to be
an intergalactic princess . . ."
--Janet Evanovich, author of Top
Secret
Twenty-One (9780345542922) $28.00
Dearest Mick--
Chip, my loyal servant, and I had
just returned from my private compound in St. Barts to find your latest parcel
teetering on our expansive front porch. I am not sure how the delivery
man was able to negotiate not only our security fence, but also our pack of
guard dogs as well as several fully staffed guard towers without
incident. Chip will have to look into this situation. It is
unacceptable. At any rate, I ran into one of your authors, a Mister James
Patterson, who was dining at one of my favourite local eateries. What a
wonderful fellow! Not only is he donating some of his pocket cash to
struggling English and Irish bookstores, but he also personally signed a copy
of his latest books Invisible (9780316405348) 28.00 and Middle
School: Save Rafe (9780316322126) 13.99 to me. Did you know
that he has a personal sherpa who lugs around cases of his books so he can sign
them for friends and new acquaintances at a moment's notice? I found it
quite refreshing.
I also thought you might be
interested to learn that I was recently knighted by the Queen of England, and
prior to the ceremonies I spent some time with Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf
Hall (9780312429980) 16.00 and Bring Up the Bodies (9781250024176)
16.00. She was there to join the ranks of the Dame Commanders of the
British Empire. With her Wolf Hall series in the process of being filmed,
she did ask me if I knew any good directors, so I gave her Steven Spielberg's
phone number. I suppose he could use the work.
But enough about me, Chip and I
cracked open a bottle of Chateaux Lafite-Rothschild 1869 and delved into your
most recent care package. I was excited to see Chip pull out a copy of The
Vacationers (9781594631573) 26.95 by Emma Straub, but then I realized that
I had confused her with her father Peter Straub. His Ghost Story (9780671685638)
6.99 scared me so much that Chip had to ply me with hot toddies for nearly a
week just to get me to sleep.
Since I knew them well, I was
exceptionally intrigued with The Romanov Sisters (9781250020208) 27.99
by Helen Rappaport. Long before the unpleasantness in Russia, I had
played with young Sasha at the Summer Palace whenever my father was on
business. Sasha loved his toy soldiers and we would play with them for
hours on end. Even at that young age, I found his sisters to be quite
fetching and beguiling. Unfortunately, that Rasputin character was even
more beguiling, and I still blame him for much of what ensued. Thank you
for your care package.
Warmest Regards,
Charles Edmund Wilson III
Odds
& Sods
British
historian Antony Beevor had a nice payday. He was announced as the winner
of the $100,000 2014 Pritzker Military Museum and Library Literature Award for
Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. Our friends, Double D and
Stoner Bill will not be attending this year's Museum and Library gala event in
Chicago, as they have been banned for life after last year's incident at the
awards. Antony Beevor's latest title was a little thing called The
Second World War (9780316023757) 20.00.
Correction:
Diana Gabaldon's TV show based on her Outlander series debuts on August 9 on
Starz and not August 3 as erroneously stated here . . .
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