Author Archives: admin

328I: Boy Destroys “Talking” Gorilla Costume

328H: Newspaper Boy Has Genius Inventor Friend

Seeking 1970s YA mystery. Protagonist delivers newspapers and in a subscription sales contest. Has a genius inventor friend (including retractable staircase). Mysterious house with strange noises. Turns out to be a family of circus performers who buy a lot of newspaper subscriptions.

328G: Rich Cat And Poor Cat in New Orleans

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Trying to remember title of a children’s fiction book set in New Orleans. Read in the 80s. One rich white fluffy groomed cat and one thin scruffy chimney sweep cat. Illustrations in black-and-white. Title may have been in blue foil. White cat may have lived on St. Charles Avenue.

Illustrations may have been somewhat similar to Black and White illustrations in Roald Dahl’s books. Shaded gray, a little messy.

328F: Terrorist plot foiled by mismatched federal agents

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I listened to an audiobook from a library a couple years ago and have been searching for several years for it, but have been unable to find it. The library has torn itself apart trying to find it and I have physically gone through every audiobook but still can’t find it.

Here is what I remember:

The book starts out in Washington. A terrorist plot is discovered by a female agent, FBI?, and is brought to the appropriate gov agency. The director knows that this is an extremist op and calls in a recently retired/parted CIA or some other black ops agent. He has had his fill and is reluctant to take the mission but makes a deal that this really will be his last mission. He grudgingly accepts the mission and they are sent undercover to Europe/England to track down and kill the terrorist quietly. I think it was sanctioned by the President. He is an “off the books” guy and is not tied down by following the law while the female agent is by the books. She slowly learns what it takes to accomplish their mission and slowly warms to the guy. They have to use fake names, fake credits, and stay off the grid while tracking the terrorist, as I think the terrorists found out about it and began tracking them. I remember they try to buy some guns from some Eastern European gangsters and get into a shootout in a London garage when the deal goes bad. He has to use his contacts to get around and to track terrorists. I know they rented a seedy hotel room and he went out to get food and a burner phone and someone came to attack them while she was alone. They had to deal with the underworld trying to get info on the terrorist. I think the book ends when they catch-up with the terrorist attack around the London eye(ferris wheel?). The terrorist may have been a suicide bomber with a dirty bomb, but can’t remember for sure..

For some reason I thought it was written by a female author but I have searched every female action/suspense writer and have not found it. All I listen to is spy/action novels and the title must have popped out when scanning the titles but it wasn’t obvious.

328E: Piano player from 1910’s meets girl from present

328D: Woman Offended By Man’s Offer To Take Care Of Her Needs

328C: Where Did My Disappearing Woman Go?

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I have been searching several years for a book whose title and author I cannot remember. My recollection of the plot is sketchy, but I do remember the basic concept.

Probably read it in the 80s. Maybe early 90s
Female author.
Likely bought the book because I recognized author’s name, so probably not a rookie.
She was a story teller who used humor sometimes.
The basic theme was about a woman (age uncertain) who felt as though she was disappearing, bit by bit. Disappearing as in not being noticed/relevant/whatever.
My fuzzy recollection is that others couldn’t see that this was happening to her.
Vague recollection of book cover art: a woman was portrayed mostly as a real person. But some of her picture was composed of dotted lines indicating graphically that part of her had disappeared/was disappearing.
I’ve Googled my brains out. Lists of female authors writing in the 1970-1990 era. Also lists of best sellers. Maybe my book was a flop.
I’ve consulted librarians.
I’ve posted this weird quest on Facebook, since I have many friends there who are voracious readers.

How vague is that?!

Can you help me find this?

328B: Learning How Different Animals Sleep

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I’m hoping for some help finding a book I remember from my childhood that I can’t seem to find anywhere online.

It’s a book about a little boy who teaches the reader how different animals sleep.

I believe that the cover has a blue frame and a picture of the boy sleeping, possibly with one of the animals, like a giraffe or a bear.

In one part of the story, he sleeps with the giraffes or the horses standing up.

I was born in the late 80s, so I imagine it was a book from around the late 80s or early 90s.

That’s really all I remember.

Thank you for your help!

328A: The Little Girl Who Wouldn’t Go To Bed

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I’m looking for a book that I loved when I was little. I was born in 1981 and had the book when I was around 3 or 4 years old. It was called “The Little Girl Who Wouldn’t Go To Bed” or “The Little Girl That Didn’t Want To Go To Bed” maybe? Not sure on the title. But I remember a lot about the book …

Every page was illustrated. In the beginning of the book the little girl doesn’t want to go to bed and her mother says something like, “Very well then, but father and I are going to sleep so you’ll be all alone.”

The whole rest of the book has the little girl going to all these different spots in the house to play – on one page her doll is asleep, on another all her stuffed animals are asleep, she goes from room to room of the house but all of her toys are asleep. She goes to her dollhouse and the dolls in there are asleep too. After going from room to room to find all of her toys sleeping she gives up and goes to bed too. Hope you can help me to find this book.

327Y: Giant Cat Saves The Day (Solved!)