First Michelle Pfeiffer in "The Story of Us" (which I haven't seen), and now Sandra Bullock as a puzzler. Groan. Can I be a consultant?
Books:
"A Small Town" by Shelby Hearon. Life in tiny Venice, MO is insular and dull most of the time, and so is this book. Bursts of plot in the form of family feuds, affairs, old residents returning, and even a murder didn't help, and I was relieved to finish and get this back to the library.
"Pop Culture Crosswords" by Trip Payne. I've finished lots of crossword books and haven't been noting them here, but I should. This is a good one, though people like my mother who complain they don't know the new groups, movie stars, etc. won't like it.
"Felon For Peace" by Jerry Elmer. I mentioned this earlier, and have now finished. While I was compiling health insurance statistics, and making sure crosswords and game-show questions were accurate, my fifth-grade classmate was making a real difference in the world through his antiwar activities and more recent legal work. I'm now in touch with him, as well as our teacher (who is an avid crossword solver and has even posted on the NYT crossword forum, yet was unaware of "Wordplay").
