What If . . .

Actress/activist/best-selling author Shirley MacLaine is back with her fourteenth book, What If . . . A Lifetime of Questions, Speculations, Reasonable Guesses, and a Few Things I Know For Sure.

In her own unique style, MacLaine explores a variety of topics.  Some of the segments (there aren't any chapters) are only one page with one question, leaving the filling in of the blanks to the reader. For instance, 'What if evolution itself is speeding up?'

With other questions, she spins her own thoughts on everything from 'What if we really don't understand love?' and 'What if Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis hadn't broken up?' to more personal ones like 'What if my memory is going?'.

At 264 pages, the book is a fairly quick read, but one that can leave you pondering some of the more serious questions long after you finish.

The Days of Anna Madrigal

You might have grown up like me, reading the the nine-volume Tales of the City series written by Armistead Maupin.  The books began in 1976 as a serial story in a San Francisco newspaper and the first three books (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City) were made into a television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney.  One of Maupin's other books, The Night Listener was also made into a film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette and a stage-musical version of Tales of the City premiered at San Francisco's American Conservancy Theater in May 2011.  The Tales of the City books discuss the stories of several inhabitants of an apartment building in San Francisco, run by the beloved and fabulous Anna Madrigal.  In the latest book in the series, The Days of Anna Madrigal, Anna is 92 and committed to the notion of "leaving like a lady."  Mrs. Madrigal

has found peace with her "family of choice" and is patiently living her life.  Some members of Anna's chosen family are traveling to Burning Man, the art community in Nevada's Black Rock Desert where 60,000 revelers gather to construct a city designed to last only one week, and want her to travel with them, but she has another destination in mind--Winnemucca, Nevada, her Depression-era childhood home.  Anna hopes to attend to some unfinished business before she gracefully lives out her life, and face some demons she has long avoided. If you wish to read the series, you must start from the beginning, because the each book begins where the last one ends.  Armistead Maupin was the 2012 recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation's Pioneer Award, and may be contacted at www. armisteadmaupin.com or at www.facebook.com/ArmisteadMaupinAuthor.

Fifth Grave Past the Light

One of my favorite heroines is at it again as she stars in her latest book, Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones.  Charley Davidson is the grim reaper---but she's not just your normal, everyday grim reaper.  Charley is a tough, private investigator who sees dead people, solves crimes, and serves as a portal through which dead folks pass through her to reach "the other side."  Her only real problem in life is her attraction to sexy, sultry Reyes Farrow, the son of Satan, who has moved into the apartment next to hers!  Reyes is the main suspect in Charley's unsolved arson case and with the the help of her police detective Uncle Bob, she vows to solve the arson case and clear Reyes' name.  The investigation is at a standstill until Charley opens her apartment door one day and finds 27 dead blonde women hovering around.

Charley deduces that the dead women have been murdered by a serial killer and when Charley realizes her own sister, Gemma, is a target, she is forced to ask Reyes for his help in solving the case.  Reyes agrees to help Charley but at a price...he wants all of her, body and soul.  Is that too big of a price for Charley to pay?  This novel is fast-paced and humorous and has just a few paranormal elements.  I suggest reading this series in order, as the characters grow with each book and the stories build on previous events.  Darynda Jones won a Golden Heart and a RITA for her first novel in the Charley Davidson series, First Grave on the Right. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and two beautiful sons and can be reached on the Internet at www.daryndajones.com.

For Your Little Fashionista

I stumbled across the sweetest blog today!  It's all about a 4 year old girl (Mayhem) that likes to make paper dresses with her mom (Angie).  Now, you might think that these are just plain, simple frocks---but you'd be wrong!  This little girl likes to look at pictures of dresses from award shows, project runway, Hollywood galas and other events and helps her mom recreate

them from construction paper, toile, tinfoil, sheets and other pliable materials, fastened together with clear tape and glue.  Take a look at http://instagram.com/2sisters_angie and see for yourself how extraordinary these dresses are!  I love the creative talent of both the mom and the daughter.  I learned about the blog from an article located here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/4-year-old-paper-dresses-fashion-by-mayhem_n_4855545.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false.  Do you have your own fashionista?  The library has several books to help her create her own stylish outfits!  Cute Clothes for the Crafty Fashionista by Tina Dybvik and Stylish Shoes for the Crafty Fashionista by Mary Meiniking.  These two books describe how to make cute new clothes from repurposed items and are the perfect way to spend an afternoon designing clothes with your fashion conscious girl!