We went to a sing-a-long two weeks ago at Disney Hall and Julie Andrews was a special guest. Of course, she sang (and we sang-along) “My Favorite Things.” Afterward, I got to thinking if there was one book I had read in 2012 that I could call “my favorite book.” I asked Natalie and William the same question. NATALIE: My favorite novel was The Chosen by Chaim Potok. This was my favorite novel because the themes of friendship, family and being one’s self (instead of what you’re supposed to be) are woven together into a thought provoking and moving story. Set in 1945, the book also deals with the tensions between history…
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Sherlock Holmes Meets the Amazing Mary Russell
I met mystery author Laurie R. King during the production of Mysterious California, my parents’ 2008 documentary. Now, five years later, I have discovered Ms. King’s wonderful Mary Russell series. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice begins the series with 15-year-old Mary Russell meeting the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915. The two immediately become a team. Mary Russell is inquisitive, clever, and recently orphaned; Holmes is in desperate need of a mind equal to his in logic and deduction. Soon, they are travelling across England, first to solve the mysterious illness of a wealthy neighbor, then on the trail of a kidnapper, and finally to solve their most difficult case of all, one that…
