FICTION
The Complete Far Side, by Gary Larson.
Hands down, my favorite comic strip of all
time is The Far Side. Larson’s take on the
world is a unique one, and just thinking about
a daydreaming Viking, a tether-cat-playing
dog or a dad marveling at the return of the
slugs can make me laugh. If it has been a
while since you’ve read The Far Side, or if
you’d like to share that joy with someone, this
complete set—now available in three volumes
in trade paperback—includes all of the syndicated cartoons. That makes for more than
4,000 comics in this collection, more than
1,000 of which are available only as part of
this collection. (Item #947380; available
now)—Brian Hovis
NONFICTION
Novel Journals, from Canterbury Classics.
I’ve often found that being an active writer
goes hand in hand with being an avid reader.
These journals make a great gift for any writer-readers you know. The lines on these 160-page
December Staff book picks
In our digital editions
Click here to listen to an
audio excerpt from Harlan
Coben’s novel, Darkest Fear.
(See page 11 for details.)
By Jonathan Lowe
IMAGINE A BOOK THAT, much as you
want to, you just can’t read right now. Maybe
it’s a mystery or suspense novel by an author
whose movie version intrigued you enough to
crave a deeper look. Maybe there’s a whole list
of books you’ve been meaning to read. But
with so many projects and errands jostling for
your attention, you just can’t drop what you’re
doing, and too many other chores are standing in the way before, at last, you can finally
flop into that comfy lounge chair.
Why wait, though? Audiobooks to the
rescue! Audiobooks can be played anywhere,
from car to kitchen to laundry room, enabling
you to immerse yourself in magical, romantic
worlds beyond the cookstove or coffee table
(where you might be wrapping presents or
puzzle-fitting ones described as “easy assembly”). How much fun is this multi-tasking
diversion? Just ask the narrators.
Narrators should know. They read aloud
for a living, and give life to characters on the
page via inflection, dialect and tone. Many are
professional stage or screen actors. Their job
is to create such believability that they can
disappear into the moment and conjure
scenes within the listener’s mind.
I asked actress and narrator Rosalyn
Landor about Maeve Binchy’s A Week in
Winter. “Binchy was masterful in describing
the inhabitants of her stories, so as I picture
each one, they take on a life of their own as I
speak for them,” Landor told me. “This one
takes you to Ireland, so I hope that if you
choose to travel there with Maeve Binchy and
myself, you’ll enjoy the experience!”
And I can vouch for audiobooks person-
ally. Before I became a reviewer, I would listen
to them while sorting mail at the post office. I
got through literally thousands of books that
way, while doing repetitive work with my
hands. You can too. C
Jonathan Lowe is an award-winning novelist
and a judge in the Audie Awards. His website
is
towerreview.com.
The Costco Connection
Unabridged audiobooks by a variety of
authors and across several genres are available in all Costco warehouses.
Hands-free reading
Audiobooks bring writing to life
books are actually the novel
printed in tiny text. There’s
nothing like the words of
Jane Austen or Oscar Wilde
to inspire the ink to flow.
Available titles include The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,
The Brothers Grimm, Dracula,
Emma, Great Expectations, Jane
Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray,
Pride and Prejudice and The Wizard
of Oz. (Item #956271; available
now)—Shana Stowers
Baseball, College Football, Football
and Golf, from Murray Books. Ideal for a
variety of sports fans, these shaped books not
only look great and have the texture of the
respective balls, but they’re packed with information as well. Each book includes a history
of the sport, players of note and rules of the
sport. These books are a perfect way to while
away the hours during the off-season. (Item
#609065; available now)—Alex Zennan
The Elements: An Illustrated History of the
Periodic Table, by Tom Jackson. For science
enthusiasts and
the just plain curious,
this book traces the history
of the steps that led to the creation of the
periodic table in 1869. With more than 300
illustrations, it offers a fascinating look at the
world around us. The other titles in the series
get the same detailed treatment, with a bonus
poster. They include Mathematics Illustrated
History of Numbers, Philosophy Illustrated
History and Physics Illustrated History. (Item
#956261, available 12/8).—Lindsay Bubitz
FRANCEFREEMAN
DECEMBER 2014 ;e Costco Connection 33
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