So you think you can read XII

More book recommendations "n" stuff for February

This is a deluxe edition. However, it is also a wobbly edition because I proofread it after an adversarial encounter with some vitamins. Mother always said, “Don’t take vitamins on an empty stomach or you’ll ralph them right up.” Once a year I forget what Mother said. Today was that day.

I commuter-ferried over to Alice and Leon's house in the morning, and there—lulled by the comfort of old friends, the drowsy yawns of their poodle, the incandescence of antique lamps—I swallowed a handful of mystery vitamins and was immediately ill. Alice passed me a slice of plain bread through the bathroom door so I could roll it into Rosary beads and eat them slowly to soak up the nausea. My beads offered little protection against the devil’s ejecta.

Items are supposed to enter and exit the body in a single direction— no u-turns!

So that’s your annual reminder to listen to Mother. Below are some page-turners that got me through the coldest month of the year. Plus some upcoming events…