Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Bank Shot"

In case this is the first time you've found our blog, welcome! Once a week, we take a look at a book that is a favorite of mine that helps eat up all that baseball travel time.

The Enoch Pratt Free Library lends us a hand with recommendations from their staff, we note others sites that offer suggestions and, thanks to you, we have recommendations in the comments section. Thanks for that.

Generally, you don't figure to be lying on the floor and laughing your head off when you read a mystery book, but you just might when you read this Donald Westlake's "Bank Shot." Westlake brought people to that point with some of the funniest set-ups ever written.

Building your characters so a reader feels them is writing magic and Westlake had that magic. When the world gets too heavy and books begin to drain you a bit, pick up a Westlake and smile again.

More about the author and "Bank Shot" is on the video.

Carla D. Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, offers this pitch for "Bliss, Remembered" by Baltimore's own Frank Deford.

"This book joins the ranks of his other great novel, 'Everybody's All American.' It's an amazing story with the Olympics and World War II as a backdrop about an extraordinary Olympic swimmer from Maryland," Hayden says. "In 2004, dying of cancer, swimmer Sidney Stringfellow reveals to her son her experiences at the 1936 Olympics and the intense love affair she had with a Nazi diplomat. Deford allows the reader to savor each moment of Stringfellow's story and fascinating tale. With several new movies, books and an expanded museum dedicated to this pivotal period in American history, this is the perfect book to focus on the human dimension."

Thanks, Carla.

When looking for other book suggestions, you might want to check out "The Week" magazine and its book page. Every week, there is a new author with a note on her work and that author's favorite books, plus selections by the magazine's staff.

From Pete Kerzel, managing editor of MASNsports.com and a longtime Parrothead - "long enough that my next show in June with be my 100th (since 1978)," he says - comes this Jimmy Buffett musical recommendation, "Love in the Library." Great call, Pete! You can listen here.

If you're looking for sports reads, the March 23 edition of the New York Times listed February's best-selling entries. "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand was at the top. A friend says that whenever he feels some self-pity coming on, he just remembers "Unbroken" and the ill is cured. The read is sensational.

Enjoy the video!

"Libraries should be open to all - except the censor." - President John Kennedy (Saturday Review, October 29 1960)

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2015 season is his ninth with the club and 30th covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. Join the Enoch Pratt Free Library for family story time on Saturday, April 11 from 10-11 a.m. at the meeting room of the Hamilton branch, 5910 Harford Road.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2015 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.