The Serpent's Tale

The next book in the Mistress of the Art of Death series is another great medieval crime tale of Sicilian doctor Adelia Aguilar and her on-again, off-again beau Rowley, now the powerful Bishop of Saint Albans. Henry II (Plantagenet), King of England and his obstinate wife, Eleanor of Aquitane, are warring again. Henry calls in his special investigator Adelia to solve the murder (by Death Cap mushroom) of his lover, Rosamund, in her tower. The obvious suspect is the Queen herself, retaliating against a royal lover. The unlikely medical investigator Adelia enters a world of double-crossing lords, Catholic backlash against the killing of Thomas a Becket, unfaithful sons, and mercenaries to apply her scientific knowledge in a baffling case. With her faithful friend Gyltha, and her baby daughter Allie (is it Rowley's?), Adelia again risks her safety and reputation as a healer to get mixed up in royal intrigue. A fascinating character in a historical context I love!

Ron Santo: A Perfect 10

OK, if you are not a Chicago Cubs fan, stop reading here. Or maybe not? This story of Ron Santo, baseball player, broadcaster, humanitarian, whom we lost to cancer this winter, is certainly a sweet story for Cub Fans. But it is also a story of a man who overcame diabetes, diagnosed at age 18, to play professional baseball. A story of a man who eventually lost both lower legs to diabetes, but continued to travel with the team to broadcast what he hoped (year after year) would be a World Series season. A story of a man who endured countless laser eye surgeries, heart surgeries, and cancer treatments brought on by diabetes, but still hosted and promoted countless fundraisers for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF) in communities around the Chicagoland area to make treatments better for children and adults, and make the devastating disease a little less devastating to those afflicted. He wasn't a complicated man. He wasn't a egotistical professional athlete (although famously vain about his personal appearance). He didn't have a clothing or shoe line. He didn't host a TV program on any "Decision". He didn't disgrace his sport by betting on it. He just used his gifts and fame to help others in a very simple, American way. For this he should not just be in the Baseball Hall of Fame...he should be in the American Hall of Fame. Read it, laugh, cry, smile.