I have been a Terry Pratchett fan for years. I love him because he is witty & smart & accessible & hilarious & just plain lovely. I could easily go on for paragraphs with specifics about why I love him & why you should, too, but I won't--we don't have the space. However, I will briefly talk about his newest Discworld novel.

Commander of the Watch, Sam Vimes, is on vacation with his family out in the country. But, as Discworld fans know, Sam is not one for enforced relaxation. So, when he stumbles upon a murder scene, he is more than ready to hunt down the killers. However, once he gets started, he finds a whole chain of crimes lurking just below the surface of this quaint little village.

Pratchett, with his customary genius and humor, takes on the issue of what happens when people blindly follow orders.

While my father was not the primary cook in our household, he definitely knew his way around the kitchen. Dad was in charge of Sunday Breakfast every week (pancakes or waffles with bacon & homefries) and the occasional dinner (soup or anything that typically goes on a grill along with homefries and sausage). While they probably weren't the most balanced meals I ever ate, they were always made with love. Even now, whether I'm on the phone or visiting my parents, one of the first things he asks is if I've eaten or if I'm hungry. Man with a Pan is for the likes of him. This is a fantastic collection of essays by men who cook for their families--not only professional chefs like Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, and Michael Ruhlman, but also Stephen King, Mark Kurlansky, Jim Harrison, and the like. Mostly, they tell about the author's forays into the kitchen--the trials & tribulations of cooking for a family, favorite methods of cooking, or what got him in the kitchen in the first place. They also give their favorite recipes and best-loved cookbooks. The common theme: they all feel cooking is important & should be done with love. A great Father's Day gift for the man in your kitchen.

The young, aristocratic Olivier and the older, more experienced Parrot, tell through alternating chapters of their very different upbringings and how they are thrown together and sent to the fledgling America. Olivier is supposedly learning about the penal system and Parrot is supposedly going as his servant; though really neither of them are what they would seem. The use of the dual narrators allows us to see how much they hate each other at first, but also lets us better appreciate how the time spent together in America changes their relationship. Who is really in charge–Olivier, Parrot, or the ones they answer to? There is so much going on that I can’t encapsulate it in a few sentences, but read this book–it’s lovely.