Fame Junkies - The Hidden Truth Behind America's Favorite Addiction - Jake Halpern

Halpern's wonderfully interesting (and far too short) book Fame Junkies explores the world of people drawn to fame. Divided into three sections, Halpern interviews and follows a legion of wanna-be child stars and their families, a group of celebrity assistants and a clutch of die-hard fans. Each group personally expends an inordinate amount their personal time and energy (and often money) to either try to attain a level of fame or simply to get near someone famous. The definition of fame, based on Halpern's subjects, can be tenuous. For many being famous does not mean being an A-list movie star, but merely an underwear model for Sears. Halpern interviews families in podunk towns shelling out thousands for their children to go to acting schools; starry-eyed assistants willing to work 18 hour days for peanuts in the service of C-list stars; and family members of fanatical groupies. Only in America.

Teun Hocks - Aperture Books

Dutch photographer/painter Hocks creates amusing and bizarre painted photo images. Portraying a generic "everyman" Hocks highlights the absurdities of life. Standing on an ice-flow, his everyman looks concernedly at his briefcase and hat as they float away. Standing on top of a ladder, he shoves his head into a painting as peers around, as though through a window. A most arresting image shows a watering can next to a small sapling. A long rope ending with a nose trails on the ground from the tiny sapling twigs. Sly, witty, sad and surreal.

http://www.teunhocks.nl/Fotowerk.html
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/featured_artists/hocks/hocks_frames.htm

Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May Series

Bryant and May, Fowler's irrescable, crabby and ancient detectives totter through this wonderful series. Set in London, the detectives and their "Peculiar Crimes Unit" investigate offbeat murders. The books are wonderfully filled with details about historic London, esoteric religions, hidden underground spaces, cults and creepy post-mortem anomalies. Do read them in order starting with Full Dark House, as there are some giveaways in later books.

Practically Perfect in Every Way - Jennifer Niesslein

In high school I had a friend who decided to try some experiments out on himself that he had read about. He simultaneously ate only brown bread and apple juice and slept 2 hours at night and another hour in the afternoon. According to his science journal, this was all the body needed. After a week of this regime, he hallucinated his thigh muscle falling off and decided to call it quits. Niesselein's book could serve as an equally strong warning on being your own personal guinea pig.

Deciding that she was happy, but not "happy enough", Niesslein created a list of areas in her life that she felt could be improved. She then bought self-help books for each topic and tried to follow them as rigorously as possible. Fortunately for her sanity, she did one improvement area at a time. Her choice of self-help authors run from the standard (Dr. Phil) to the truly questionable (Dr. Laura). Niesslein's account of trying to perfect her life is often as hilarious as it is sad and rather scary. While she comes out the other end of her experience mostly unscathed, there are definitely some touch-and-go moments where you (and she) wonder what the heck she was thinking. Before you reach for another self-help book, give this excellent book a read.

Caroline Graham Chief Inspector Barnaby Mysteries

For some inexplicable reason, the Barnaby series covers could double for vapid romance novels from the 50s. However, the books are very recent and have very modern plots. While their is some continuity in the series, they can be read out of order. Two particular favorites are Written in Blood and Death in Disguise.

A good mystery will have lots of twist and turns with no clear end in site. A really good mystery will have well-written characters fully fleshed out and endearing to the reader. A great mystery will also be populated with some really nasty rat-bastards who are clearly fast closing in on a well-deserved comeuppance. Written in Blood fully deserves the category of great mystery. Death in Disguise derives its charm not from revenge but from the cast of flakey characters. After the guru of a new-age co-op is murdered, Barnaby and his staff must question a houseful of loopy alternative reality practitioners, each with their own astral plane and theory of what really happened.