A whole bunch of short stories that I'm thinking I may have read twenty years ago. Some pretty darn good ones in there. King's non-fiction piece about his son's Little League team was great, I don't even like baseball!
The author tells his story of being a farmer for twenty years, then a teacher, and how he came to write his many books. Most poignant was the anecdote of Charlie the Budgerigar, at which I teared.
One of the Red Glove series. Inspirational stories are not my cuppa, but I must admit I teared up a tiny bit at the end.
Quotes:
"Nerves of steal, Meade." -- pg. 74 steel?
...packing M-16 machine guns... -- pg. 111 I thought they were assault weapons?
He'd been in more firestorms than he could count... -- pg. 113 Or maybe firefights?
He closed his eyes. God...you did this, didn't You? -- pg 148 I guess all the guys that died had no one who wanted to see them for Christmas.
Cosima goes back to her hometown of Grace, Arizona, to see how her elderly doctor father is doing. Except it seems to be a very dusty town, if you know what I mean. Very enjoyable.
A busker, a maid, and an apprentice clockmaker join forces to help each other overcome their problems. Sort of steampunkish, what with the talking mechanical head and all. Good story!
Words I Had To Look Up:
carbuncle (pg. 29) -- A carbuncle is an archaic name given to any red cabochon cut gemstone. It's also a yucky skin infection!
Kip Largo, ex-con/con man, has to run a con to save his son from a gambling debt. Pretty funny in parts, but the ending seems real noir, if I'm using the term correctly.