I just read Ellen Klages' White Sands, Red Menace, which is the sequel to Green Glass Sea. It's a very evocative look at life just after WWII, in a family of scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project and now are working on the V-2 rockets with Von Braun. The two girl leads have to deal with the inherent sexism of the time (one wants to be an engineer, the other is an artist in mixed media), racism, and the political stress of the beginning of the cold war.

Highly recommended, anyway.

I just got Lawrence Block's newsletter, and he's offering a box of random stuff -- 12 books! -- for $50. [link] They say:

No telling what you'll find, but we guarantee a hardcover first edition of Telling Lies for Fun & Profit, and at least two other LB hardcovers. There'll be foreign editions, anthologies, UK paperbacks, and other odds and ends, all at a tiny fraction of our regular retail prices.

So tempting!

Does anyone have an idea what to do with old Cliff Notes/Spark Notes? I have a bunch and don't want to sell them one by one on Amazon. I don't need money for them, but don't want to just dump them in recycling them.

Java, would a library take them?

That's one thought - and I am going to the Alameda Library tomorrow night in fact (author is giving a talk). Thanks, Jess.

library for sure

java - do you have any Shakespeare ones? If the library doesn't take them, I'm sure CJ would love them.

He has also been asking me a lot about Greek Mythology lately. What would be a good book for me to get him? I don't know if he is ready for anything like the Iliad, when do kids normally get introduced to that?

The Edith Hamilton Mythology is the usual go-to text for schools.

Odyssey is easier than the Illiad; I read it in 9th grade I think.

He is in 6th at the moment, but reading at a higher level.