charlie asher

BOOK REVIEW: Johannes Cabal the Detective

Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan Howard This book is the follow up novel to the hilarious and inventive Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. In this book, Cabal is still a…

Sit or Squat?

One of the great joys of being a parent is the chance to drive to East Bumblefudge on your weekend to watch your children participate in whatever sporting/academic/competitive event is going…

BOOK REVIEW: This is How by Augusten Burroughs

This Is How by Augusten Burroughs I found this book in the humor section of the library, right next to Dave Barry. This made sense to me, as Augusten Burroughs…

I’m Too Old for Overtime

I watched the Duke Blue Devil/UNC Tar Heel college basketball game the other night.  As a Duke alum, I’m pretty sure I signed something upon graduation saying that they could…

BOOK REVIEW: A Glimmer of Guile

BOOK REVIEW: A Glimmer of Guile by Mary Patterson Thornburg. A beautifully written fantasy novel that doesn’t demean women. I love reading both science fiction and fantasy, but one thing that…

I Wish I Smoked

I had reason to say this today: I wish I smoked. I mean, I don’t really wish I smoked.  I cannot bear the smell of cigarette smoke, and I have…

BOOK REVIEW: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

BOOK REVIEW: Neverwhere: A Novel by Neil Gaiman I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan, though I admit to coming later to that game than I should have and I…

SAT Practice Questions — 30 Years Later

Decades after the test, how would you do taking SAT Practice Questions? My son took the SAT the other day.  He’s only in Seventh Grade, but he took it for…

BOOK REVIEW: Jane Austen in Boca

BOOK REVIEW: Jane Austen in Boca: A Novel The premise of this book, written by Paula Marantz Cohen, can best be summed up this way: what if Jane Austen’s Bennett…

Book ‘Em, Danno

  I’m afraid to go back to the library. I love the library. Any place that is hushed and full of books is by definition magical. I’m jealous of the…

Book Review: Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Book Review: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson Jenny Lawson’s brain does not work like most of ours, or at least not like the people I run into…

Book Review: The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

I read “Sutton” by J.R. Moehringer a while back.  It was one of those books that just showed up in my house one day and knocked around until I read…