Celebrating a century of great American writing.

Sometimes the movie really is better than the book. I will attempt to defend this heretical view with a few examples.

Ten years ago today…

A not-so-long time ago, in a galaxy not-so-far away…

I revisit my 80s childhood and teen years by recalling my favorite teen movies from that amazing decade. Includes one dishonorable mention...

I go against popular opinion and slay a few sacred cows.

Authors get their ideas from all sorts of places: visits to exotic locales; TV shows, books, articles, and movies; even strange dreams. Or just random musings. As a practicing veterinarian I wondered: why do we always seem to put more pets to sleep around the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays than any other time of year? What would happen if someone brought a pet to be humanely put to sleep…but lied to the veterinarian about why? Those were the inspirations for…

You had plans—yardwork, a day at the beach, a long bike ride. But Mother Nature had other plans. You wake up to rain, and the forecast shows no end in sight until at least tomorrow. Perfect! Time to brew a cup of tea, curl up in your favorite comfy chair, and dive into a great book. Here are my top 5 book recommendations to read on a cozy, rainy day.

July is National Peach Month! Which means we must talk about beloved British children’s author Roald Dahl.

The suspense thriller is a hugely popular fiction genre, right up there with mysteries and romance. It started with the classic spy novels of Ian Fleming, John LeCarre, and Helen MacInnes and matured with the international political thrillers of Tom Clancy and Lee Child. Other authors in this seminal form of the genre include Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth, and Ken Follett. These stories all feature espionage or military professionals deploying an array of sophisticated weapons and gadgets and displaying feats of super-human physical skill. The story starts when they get their orders: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”

Random fact: June 6^th is National Caves and Karst Day. Truly.

Here is a list of five awesome books that were turned into great, must-see movies!

The phrase “bus ride from hell” no doubt conjures up bad memories of trips to and from school on the big yellow bus, or perhaps visions of a cross-country journey you would rather forget.

UPDATES:

3/20/25: Added a link to Roger Ebert’s review of Shadowlands

1/20/24: the death of Norman Jewison, who directed one of Clare’s top 5

UPDATE: MARCH 2025: Two new veterinarian authors added!

When I was writing The Keys of Death, here’s something that really helped me: a playlist.

Watership Down (1972 by Richard Adams) was my favorite childhood book!! I read it when I was in 5th grade…

The world of popular fiction lost one of its best craftsman eight years ago…