Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 9/9/2007

Grandparents Day

9/9/2005:
Aaron Small stretches his perfect record by one more game, thish time with an 8-4 win against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees purchased the contract of the 33-year-old right-hander on July 17 from Columbus of the International League (AAA) to boost their chances for an 11th straight postseason appearance. He'll get his 10th straight victory on September 29 and his first loss on October 7 to the Los Angeles Angels.

Birthdays:
Bobby Baun b. 1936
Joe Theismann b. 1949
"Thunder Dan" Majerle b. 1965
Mike Hampton b. 1972
Shane Battier b. 1978

THRILLERS

A literary mystery that’s perfect beach fare, despite its cold-sounding name. The Winter Queen is reminiscent of The Alienist by Caleb Carr. It’s beautifully written; it has a strong plot with a mystery at its core; and it smolders with atmosphere—here 19th-century Russia and London, rather than New York. Erast Fandorin, a young Russian police officer, investigates a supposed suicide and uncovers a conspiracy. Ruth Rendell calls Boris Akunin “the Russian Ian Fleming,” and Alan Furst says The Winter Queen is what might have resulted “if Tolstoy had sat down to write a murder mystery.”

THE WINTER QUEEN, by Boris Akunin (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2004)