Tinseltown by William J Mann: Good Old 1920s Hollywood Murder Mystery

Black and white movies. Drugs. Movie censorship. Celebrity secrets. Unsolved murder. If you like all these elements mixed in against the backdrop of the 1920s old Hollywood, then you should give this book a whirl.
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J Mann is a great pick for those who are big fans of old Hollywood. Mann packs a heaping 480 pages worth of true Hollywood murder mystery into this noir-esque true story centering on the murder of 1920s film director William Desmond Taylor.

Tinseltown, by William J Mann

While the "who done it?" portion of the story is a little slow moving, you have to applaud Mann for the amount of research he must have done to write this book. And it's only slow moving because of the amount of background and detail Mann provides. As a reader, you find yourself engaged in the story to the point where you almost forget everything you are reading really happened. So it's a true story that reads like fiction.
Tinsletown name drops 1920s Hollywood stars left and right so if you are a fan of old Hollywood history, this would be a great addition to your book collection. As someone with very little knowledge of old Hollywood, I came away feeling like this book thoroughly indoctrinated me in the subject matter. It's the 1920s equivalent of TMZ!
My only complaint about the book was that I found myself having to stop very frequently to Google the "characters" in the book so I could 1) put a face with the name and 2) get a little more background on who the Hollywood players of the 20s were. It would've been nice if there were photos in the book.
All in all, this is a good read for anyone who has an interest in mysteries and 1920s Hollywood. You will come away with lots of knowledge of Hollywood in its Heyday!
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book for review. The opinions stated within this review were my own and were provided without compensation.

Finally Use That Fancy Expensive Camera with Some Help from Me Ra Kohin Your Family in Pictures

Okay so I'll be the first to admit it, when my son was born one of the things I bought (in addition to all the customary baby must-haves) was a fancy and very pricey DSLR camera. I justified this purchase quite easily: I wanted to capture all of the moments so I could have all of the memories. Birthdays, holidays and important events came and went. And I snapped away merrily, secretly hiding the fact that I had no clue what I was doing. I mean there are a reason people call themselves professional photographers, they know what they are doing behind their very expensive camera lenses.

Enter Me Ra Koh's newest book, Your Family in Pictures. THIS, fellow clueless picture-snapping parents, will now be your bible. I am not kidding. I have purchased other books that promised to help newbies like me master said fancy camera, to no avail. They were written like textbooks and I was unable to EASILY and QUICKLY access the tips and info I needed. Sure, the inner workings of camera can be very fascinating for some, but I'm a busy mom and I just don't have that kind of time on my hands.

What Koh manages to do is demystify the practice of taking good pictures. That simple. She presents the book in almost a cookbook-like way, dividing sections into topics that the picture-taker may want to capture. Very specific topics like: Bedtime, Fourth of July (seriously now I can take a good photo of fireworks!), Sisters, A Day at the Beach, Outdoor Sports...it's all here. Easy "recipes" give simple directions for capturing these moments with your DSLR OR P&S (point and shoot). It doesn't get any easier to capture beautiful pictures of your family in any situation you could possibly want to compose.

Got a new camera or just want to make the most of the one you already have? Get this book.

Your Family in Pictures by Me Ra Koh courtesy of Crown Publishing

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.