DigitalLit

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday as we bid farewell to 2010 and welcome 2011.

Tales from the Road by Neil Zurcher Gray & Co. Publishers $14.95 www.grayco.com Thousands of people recall Neil Zurcher as “The Travelin’ Man” or “Mr. One Tank Trip,” but his Cleveland television career goes back much further than his “One Tank Trips” segments. For 40 years, he appeared on WJW Channel 8 — now Fox [...]

Becoming Wives Who Please God by Kim and Cindy Howdyshell $31.99 Tate Publishing www.tatepublishing.com Cuyahoga Falls resident Kim Howdyshell, along with Cindy Howdyshell recently published “Becoming Wives Who Please God.” “As I walked down the aisle, I had all sorts of ideas about marriage,” Kim said. “Like many, I created a perfect picture of married [...]

In the New Year, Naturalist Sarah Matheny will lead discussions of the first two selections — “Letters from Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods” by Julie Zickefoose and “Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl” by Stacey O’Brien. Readers can purchase the titles from the gift shop [...]

On Dec. 10 at 7 p.m., author Kim Stagliano brings her new book to Christ Church Episcopal (21 Aurora St, Hudson). Her memoir, All I Can Handle: I’m No Mother Teresa, is the inspiring, heartwarming, and utterly hysterical story of how one very strong woman raises three daughters with autism, loses one at Disney World, stays married, has sex, [...]

The Mustill Store will have its annual Holiday Open House Dec. 11 from noon to 3 p.m. Several local authors will be on hand to sign their books and answer questions: Joyce Dyer (Goosetown: Reconstructing an Akron Neighborhood, and Gum-dipped: a Daughter Remembers Rubbertown); Beverly Shaffer (Cakes to Die For and Cookies to Die For);  [...]

Clevelanders are like your worst soppy girlfriend. Even after years of heartbreak, disappointment and ridicule, despite four decades without a championship, we still carry a torch for our beloved Browns. Terry Pluto’s latest book, Things I’ve Learned from Watching the Browns, asks why. Thousands of readers responded to the veteran sportswriter with stories of why they keep [...]

Obstruction of Justice, by Perri O’Shaughnessy. I actually started this late last year, and finally got around to finishing it. All in all, it was pretty enjoyable. A bit slow in places, but it keeps you guessing. There’s more twists and turns in this than a double knot. Basically, there are two different mysteries: the [...]

(Read in 2009) Fool, by Christopher Moore. In a nutshell, this story is inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, told from the point of view of Pocket, the king’s fool. This book manages to be charming despite itself. It’s sophomoric one moment, and very sharp the next. Pocket, along with his dim assistant Drool, are part [...]

Hatter M., by Frank Beddor. I had really been looking forward to this graphic novel spinoff of “Looking Glass Wars” and “Seeing Redd” — which are excellent “alternate fantasies” to “Alice in Wonderland.” This was a bit disappointing. There were some bright spots of dry humor with Hatter M, one of the neatest characters Beddor [...]