I just finished "Dog On It", one of Mary's recommendations. The premise sounded sort of cheesy, but it was so well written from the point of view of the dog. Chet -- the dog -- will be thinking deep thoughts about the case and suddenly be sidetracked by a cheerio on the floor or the scent of a cat. Very clever. If you like books about cheese making, try "Blessed are the Chessemakers" by Sarah-Kate Lynch. It's fiction with a touch of magic which I'm finding I like in a story. Our book group recently read "Water for Elephants". It was one I would never have picked up on my own and I loved it. The group also picked "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" which I did not read. Little boys being killed in concentration camps is not my cup of tea. I'm also reading "Night Night Little Pookie" three or four times a day to the year old grandson. He likes it as much as I do!

Like a database? Tatiana's Tomatobase. Thousands of varieties most with some photos. Another one we can't link to here but it has the same first name as mine in the title followed by Garden. No it isn't mine. Good database with reviews and some pics along with descriptions. Dave

Instapundit linked today to Readers Stereotyped by Favorite Authors that might amuse. It's an old post, but worth the visit. Most of my list is from blogs I've come across and liked well enough to bookmark, but not necessarily regularly reads. One of the most intelligent literary blogs on my list is Maud Newton. I remembered her as an editor at a publisher, but it's nowhere on her bio. Still and all, with the current economy.... Nathan Bransford bills himself as a literary agent. Stainless Steel Droppings, subtitled Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek pages turned, subtitled a reading journal and commonplace book While I love Neil Gaiman I'm not crazy about his blog. YMMV A Work in Progress Bookslut is probably the first book blog I read. At Home With Books

Vee, thanks for the link to the Gallup poll. Whew! It will take me a while to assimilate it. As for "the sad state of affairs": I understand now. I tied it to the wrong paragraph. :-) Woodnymph, yeah, I realize that I'm in the minority about the film of To Kill a Mockingbird. I figure my love of the whole book makes me too critical of the adaptation, which picks out and gives emphasis to a particular part. Which reminds me: June, if you watch the Olivier/Oberon Wuthering Heights, don't expect to see the whole story -- you will only get part of it. Otherwise, it's a quite fascinating interpretation: telling, I think, of what adaptors of the 1930s thought was important and what subsequent audiences have taken in. Woodnymph, I saw The English Patient film first, and then read the book. While the "essence" of the book might have been captured in the film, the two are so different! I like the film better. Another essence capturer, I think, is The French Lieutenant's Woman. Oh gosh, yes, the Polanski-directed Tess is superb, I think, and very faithful. Actually I like nearly all of the film versions of Hardy's books, particularly Tess and Far from the Madding Crowd -- Alan Bates will always be my Gabriel Oak. I also liked most of the Merchant-Ivory productions. I certainly like their adaptations of Forster, though I find Forster's writing insufferably Edwardian. I do like some Edwardian writing but Forster's was even more uptight than most. Knowing his bio and the times, I can understand why he wrote the way he did but the priggishness still exasperates me. Speaking of another Forster -- Margaret Forster, that is -- and Alan Bates: I adore the 1966 adaptation of Forster's Georgy Girl. I loved that book so much as a teenager that I determined I was to live in London. When this subject comes up, I always have to mention two of my favorite short story adaptations: John Huston's "The Dead" (from Joyce's Dubliners) and "Babette's Feast" (from Dinesen's Anecdotes of Destiny). June, you're right: there are so many good films that owe their genesis to a book.