Author Jane Green talks "Falling" and writing tips

Author Jane Green may be familiar to many thanks to a stack of books bearing her name and millions of copies sold, but she was new to me when I heard she was doing the rounds promoting her new book, Falling. I always enjoy events like this, even when I’m not familiar with the author. It’s inspiring to hear about their writing process, how they got a first book deal, and other little tips they know every aspiring author in the audience (aka 99 percent of the crowd) longs for.

These talks rise to a new level if you’ve read the author, however, so I made use of my library card to snag Second Chance. I saw it listed somewhere as one of her most popular titles, and it was in at the library – my selection process was no more challenging than that. It dates back to 2007, but her newest book, Falling (released July 19), wasn’t on shelves yet when I started my advance reading to prepare for the main event.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish Second Chance before the talk, but I’d read enough to know I definitely wanted to see it through to the end. Now, after attending the event and later finishing the book, I’ve happily joined her fanbase. Nothing so lovely as finding a new author you enjoy and learning she’s got a shelf full of books for you to catch up on!

Ray Romano is a golden god on Vinyl

Ray Ramono on HBO's Vinyl.

Ray Romano plays a coke-snorting, foul-mouthed, scene-stealing schmo on HBO's Vinyl, and I could scream with joy. Joy, I tell you!

It's not just that it's hilarious to see him play a record company promo guy in full-on '70s finery and facial hair, it's that he's a riot at it. He gets the funniest lines, he knocks 'em out of the park, and he absolutely rocks being a bit of a d-bag/loser with a fancy job title. He kind of makes it look badass. Ray Romano! Badass! Just by being so damn awesome in the role!

Last night's episode ("The King and I") featured Ray getting down and dirty with some lovely ladies in Vegas. And, I mean, on my god, he was being a coked-up douche without a thought to the family back home, and I realized: This is the "Ray Barone" we could never see on Everybody Loves Raymond. He was not the world's greatest father or husband on that show, but you loved him anyway, because how could you not? And now it's like seeing how dark things really got on his out-of-town trips for the sports column. It's like stepping through the looking glass, and it is way messed up on the other side.

Thanksgiving and the world's worst pie

I can cook about as well as I can sing, which is to say it's possible for me to do, but no one else wants to be around when it happens. Most of what I'm making for Thanksgiving will come from mixes or frozen pop-in-the-oven stuff (that cook-in-the-bag turkey breast is a delicious lifesaver!).

I wanted to make one thing from scratch, but it needed to be easy. So I tried a recipe for crock pot pumpkin pie. This is what I got:

10 picks for a book club reading list you can't resist

Maybe some of you could resist my list if you really tried, but why deprive yourself of delectable reading material just to spite my love of rhyme? Hang with me; the payoff is in the pages.

One of the hardest parts of any book club is selecting novels all the members will love every single month. While you're about as likely to find that as a unicorn, what you can find are wonderful books that most members will enjoy and the disenchanted few will at least be able to appreciate for some aspects (like gorgeous writing) and find topics to mull over.

I think of book club choices in terms of heavy and light. Alternating between the two strikes a balance to meet members' differing tastes and lets you temper that beautiful yet complex book one month with a breezier read the next. My heavy choices aren't really *that* heavy (War and Peace didn't even come close to making my list), but they weigh more in both effort and impact than light options. That doesn't mean they're suffocating or boring, but it does mean they should be masterfully written and leave you feeling like the time invested to read them was well spent.

Book review: "Just Kids" shares a rapturous look at art, love and friendship

How did I not read this beautiful, lyrical, infatuating memoir before now? Just Kids waited silently on my Kindle for nearly three years, bought on a whim thanks to a sale price and lush reviews. But with almost no knowledge of Patti Smith or her work, I foolishly let it languish along with so many other titles destined to collect digital dust.

The swell of articles and interviews for Smith’s recently released follow-up M Train rained down more praise of the preceding book as well as the new, reminding me that I really should see what the fuss was about. Already in possession of Just Kids, it was easy enough to get started. The hard part, I discovered, was to stop thinking about it.

The book details her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe that spanned from the late ’60s until his death from AIDS in 1989. Smith made her bold arrival in NYC at age 20 with only one suitcase, little cash and no fixed residence. She met Mapplethorpe the first day, and they soon forged a close bond that left them emotionally entwined and dear friends long after their initial romance ended. Just Kids focuses primarily on her early years in New York with Mapplethorpe before they both gained artistic renown, and before their lives and loves took them separate ways – physically, at least. They always maintained an emotional connection, one that Smith lovingly and eloquently recreates for readers.

Patti Smith drops some knowledge on us, and it's awesome

I've recently been reading the wonderful Just Kids by Patti Smith, and in searching for more information about her came across the video below. It's inspiring life advice for the young, the artistic, the human. Anyone, really.