"New Tricks - Season Four"

Season Four of the British "New Tricks" has 8 episodes on 3 discs and it starts with clearing up the aftermath of the semi-cliff hanger at the end of Series Three.  The first episode was a little grim but I found the rest of the episodes more light hearted as a whole. 

Sandra Pullman has her hands full with her staff of three former detectives.  Jack Halford (played by James Bolam) is recovering from his injuries from last season.  Brian Lane (played by Alun Armstrong) is well..just Brian .. but he's alternating between being depressed (particularly over losing a lot of time with his son when his son was growing up because Brian was always working) and trying to improve his interpersonal skills.

Gerry (played by Dennis Waterman) has a daughter who has joined the force and it's causing a dilemma for him.  Although he's proud of her, he doesn't want her making the same mistakes in her personal life that he made in his by sacrificing his personal life for the job.  He's able to empathize with Brian about not being there for his family because of his job.

Sandra is dealing with her mother's health issues and the last episode ends with her finding out some disturbing news about her late father and it appears probable that learning about her father will cause her to take some type of action next season -- another semi-cliff hanger!  I need to find Season Five quick!  pazt

"The Alzheimer's Prevention Cookbook - Recipes To Boost Brain Health"

Since my Dad had early onset dementia, I have been very interested in how to protect my brain health.  I picked up "The Alzheimer's Prevention Cookbook" by Dr. Marwah Sabbagh and Beau MacMillan at the library and have armed myself with what I hope will be useful facts to keep my brain and my body healthy!  There are also some delicious sounding recipes I would like to try but they are a little more time consuming than the plant-based ones I've been making from the "Happy Herbivore" cookbook series.  Maybe I'll just look for the ingredients that are supposed to help me stay healthy!

Dr. Sabbagh makes a big deal about ORAC scores (as they relate to food) - Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.  I chose some of the foods and spices that he mentioned that are favorites of mine in several categories and I'm going to make a concerted effort to make sure I'm eating these regularly. 

India has a very low incidence of Alzheimer's and it may be linked to their liberal use of the spice Turmeric.  I've heard before about other health-enhancing properties of Turmeric so I just purchased a brand new bottle of that spice.    Cinnamon is also another good one to use regularly.

I'm not going into all the recommended foods and reasons behind them but this book sounds very credible to me and Dr. Sabbagh is a geriartric neurologist and dementia specialist who is also the director of the Banner-Sun Health Research Institute which the fly leaf touts as one of the world's most prominent Alzheimer's disease research institutions.  He is also a research professor of neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix so I'm going to make an assumption he knows what he is talking about. 

The co-author, Chef Beau MacMillan, is executive chef at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain.

If you're interested in brain health, I high recommend you look for this book.  pazt

"Shadow Prey"

"Shadow Prey" is the second Lucas Davenport novel by John Sandford and it is just as good as all the other Sandford books I've read.  This time there has been a series of identical and ritualistic murders committed in various cities across the U. S.  and the link seems to be Minneapolis but clues are hard to ferret out because Lucas (who seems to have contacts in all communities) has very few contacts in the Indian community and those he does have seem to be closing ranks against outsiders.  What appears to be a series of unconnected murders of high ranking officials is really a case of revenge and the target is one man and the murders are to get that man to Minneapolis so he can be killed.

On a personal note, Lucas is now the father of a daughter who he sees regularly along with his daughter's mother, Jennifer.  He's asked Jennifer to marry him on a regular basis but finally gave up and just put the offer on the table for her to act on when or if she's ready. 

However, his personal life soon becomes complicated by the current case when a married female New York policewoman (Lily) is sent to work with the Minneapolis police to identify and arrest the killer of a New York man whose family is big money and aren't afraid to spend some of it to bring about justice for their son.  Lucas is attracted to Lily and when the attraction turns mutual and is acted on, it not only endangers their lives but his relationship with his daughter and Jennifer.

As usual, Sandford weaves a complex and satisfying tale of murder and revenge with twists and turns....pazt