An Award for Finishing

Today I wrapped up the A-Z Blogging Challenge. It's hard to believe that we've made it all the way through the alphabet already. Each day in April (except for Sundays) I have posted on something related to the Day's letter. If you missed my posts, you can click on the "Bloggin A-Z" label and find them that way. Although it was difficult to come up with something for a couple of the letters, I've had a great time and am really glad I joined in. AND--just because I finished--Elizabeth Mueller at Author Elizabeth Mueller has given me (and all the finishers) this lovely Award. Thanks, Elizabeth! And congrats to you and all those who finished the challenge!

A-Z Blogging: Letter Z

Wow. It's the last day of April and the last day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. It's hard to believe that we've made it all the way through the alphabet already. April 30th is brought to you by the Letter Z.

Z is for Zowie! As in Zowie are we at the end already? Z is such a difficult letter especially for someone like me who is trying to stick to a book and/or reading theme. So, here are a few literary related Z words for the final day of the Challenge.

Z is for Zenda. As in The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. A late Victorian tale of swordplay, derring-do, and a gallant gentleman who just happens to be an exact double for a King. I just finished this one recently--click the title for a review.

Z is also for Zelda Fitzgerald. I've also read a biography about her this year as part of my reading challenges. Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: an American Woman's Life by Linda Wagner was a fascinating look at the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife--and an attempt to focus on Zelda as Zelda rather than on her life as the wife of a famous American author. (Again, you may click on the title for my review.)

And Z is for Miss Zukas. Miss Helma Zukas, the librarian turned amateur detective, who is the star of a cozy mystery series written by Jo Dereske. These are very nice mysteries--just right when you want good writing with interesting characters but don't want to think real hard when it comes to the puzzle of the mystery. I haven't read any of these since I started blogging, so I have no reviews to offer--but I can say that I always grab them up when I find one I haven't read yet.

Finally (although, I'm sure there are more Z-words out there), Z is for Zafon--Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of the absolutely fabulous The Shadow of the Wind (read before blogging & reviewing began) and The Angel's Game, which is on my TBR list for a few of the challenges I've got lined up this year. Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind has sold millions of copies worldwide and earned many international awards. The story takes place in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona and focuses on a boy, Daniel Sempere. His father has introduced him to the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books: a huge library of forgotten books preserved by a small group who know the secret. Traditionally, those who have been initiated into the secret may choose one book from the collection and then are bound to protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carfax. He likes the book so much that he searches for other novels by the author, but cannot find any--and, more importantly, he finds that a man using the name of a character from Carfax's book has been buying up and destroying all of the author's work. It is up to Daniel to discover the secrets behind this man's behavior.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter Y

Ready for the last three letters on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Here we are at Day 25 and April 29th is brought to you by the Letter Y. Which was a hard one for me. Especially since I'm trying to keep my entries tied to books and reading. But after much racking of the brains....

Y is for Margaret Yorke. Margaret Yorke is the pen name for Margaret Beda Nicholson, a British mystery writer and chairman of the Crime Writer's Association from 1979-80. She has been awarded the 1999 Diamond Dagger for her contributions to the field and the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection for her novel The Scent of Fear.

Her series detective is Patrick Grant, an Oxford don who shares her love of Shakespeare. Grant appears in five novels written during the 1970s. She has also written almost forty non-series mysteries. Her novels cover everything from the cozy mystery to the suspenseful thriller.

One more letter to go!

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter X

Ready for the last three letters on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Here we are at Day 24 and April 28th is brought to you by the Letter X.

And X is for......"Mr. X" or just "X." The designation often given to the unknown villain in detective novels. When the detective doesn't have enough information to guess much about the culprit in question, s/he often refers to them as "X." Or, conversely, if the detective thinks he knows who the villain is, but isn't yet ready to divulge the information. Philip MacDonald even went so far as to name one of his mysteries "Warrant for X."

X, of course, could also stand for "X marks the spot." Many classic crime novels employed the use of a map in the story. And often the site of the crime was marked with a nice tidy little X. Just so the reader would absolutely know where the foul deed was done. For those stories that involve a bit of a treasure hunt..."X marks the spot" takes on another meaning. Then it represents the place where the treasure seekers will find the hidden booty...whether that be pirate treasure in an adventure novel or the missing will in a mystery story. X can mean so many things...what does it mean for you?

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter W

Heading into the home stretch on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Here we are at Day 23 and April 27th is brought to you by the Letter W.

W is for

WWW: Wednesdays which is hosted by MizB ofver at Should Be Reading. This is a weekly meme that I have been participating in for almost a year now. This week we'll be taking a look at two week's worth of reading....because last Wednesday I was too busy having surgery to pay attention to what I'd been reading.....

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?

*What did you just recently finish reading?

*What do you think you'll read next?

Current:
An Author Bites the Dust by Arthur W. Upfield. A literary clique is gathered together at a house party put on by Mervyn Blake. Blake is a famous author and critic who is used to character assassination and verbal backstabbing. The house party is shocked when an actual assassination takes place and their host if found dead in his writing room. The cause of death is not immediately apparent. Detective Inspector Bonaparte finds himself in a world that is a far cry from the bush characters he is used to and must find clues among the literary hates and jealousies. It is Bony's shrewd observation of human nature that will win the day.

Read Since the Last WWW: Wednesday (click titles for reviews):
The Innocent Bottle by Anthony Gilbert
The New Adventures of Ellery Queen by Ellery Queen
My Foe Outstretch'd Beneath the Tree by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley
The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Third Girl by Agatha Christie
The Porcupine by Julian Barnes
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer
Victorian Tales of Mystery & Detection by Michael Cox (ed)
Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout

Up Next:
Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter V

Heading into the home stretch on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Here we are at Day 22 and April 26th is brought to you by the Letter V.

V is for Vintage Mysteries. Of course. Anyone who knows me or follows my blog just had to see that one coming. Just what do I mean by a Vintage Mystery? Loosely speaking--anything written before, say, 1960 (according to my Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge). Although, there are some Vintage Mystery authors whose work spills over that deadline. What I'm really looking for is a style of mystery. What has been dubbed by others as "Golden Age." I'm partial to British mysteries of the period. But any mystery from anywhere that follows the fair play rules will do. I'm looking for mysteries where all the clues necessary are laid out for the reader. There may be oodles of red herrings and it may seem near impossible to distinguish the real clues from the false--but a careful reader can go back through the book and see that, had they been paying enough attention, they could have solved the mystery.

There is also a certain atmosphere to this sort of mystery. It is a time when life seemed to play out a little slower. There are large country houses where one can attend weekend parties. There tend to be butlers and maids and other servants running around and helping to make things a little more mysterious. There is more respect for the law and there is a lot less emphasis on psycological thrills and blood and gore. Often, the murder takes place off-stage. The primary focus of the book is the puzzle--who did it and how? We're not so much interested in the fact that murderer was neglected as a baby and then ridiculed as a young man and that's why he did it. Not that those sorts of books aren't interesting--but that's not what we're here for.

I like my Vintage Mysteries because they take me to a time and place that doesn't exist any more. They offer harmless escape from a world that is "too much with us"--from a world where blood and gore seem to hold the headlines every day. I like having a place where I can pit my "little grey cells" up against the likes of Poirot...and even if I can't get to the solution before he does, I know I will be satisfied with the ending.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter U

Day 21 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. I have been sticking to my plan and making most of my posts about reading and/or books. April 25th is brought to you by the Letter U.

U is for Upfield. Arthur W. Upfield. Upfield was a mystery writer who was born in Britain but lived in Australia all his life. He is best known for his series starring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") of the Queensland Police Force. Bony was created and based upon a man whom Upfield had met in his travels. "Tracker Leon" Wood was a "half-caste" (in the language of the day) Aboriginal man who was employed by the Queensland Police. Upfield's novels are known as detective stories that are good puzzles and yet have solid characters and backgrounds. They tend to avoid the more familiar patterns found in other crime novels of his day.

Upfield is on my mind because I have one of his novels on my TBR list for some of my challenges. Looming in my future is An Author Bites the Dust. In this one, a literary clique is gathered together at a house party put on by Mervyn Blake. Blake is a famous author and critic who is used to character assassination and verbal backstabbing. The house party is shocked when an actual assassination takes place and their host if found dead in his writing room. The cause of death is not immediately apparent. Detective Inspector Bonaparte finds himself in a world that is a far cry from the bush characters he is used to and must find clues among the literary hates and jealousies. It is Bony's shrewd observation of human nature that will win the day.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter T

Here we are at Day 20 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. I have been sticking to my plan and making most of my posts about reading and/or books. April 23rd is brought to you by the Letter T.

T is for TBR. That mystical "To Be Read" pile or list. Towers of books. Tons and tons of books. Piles all around the back room. Shelves of books just waiting to be read. If you're like me, there are more than enough books on that TBR list to last for the rest of your life. I figured it out--based on the the average number of books that I read a year and going to one of those sites that will estimate your life expectancy--if I don't buy another book to add to my TBR piles, I still won't have time to read everything I've got in the house right now. (Shhhh! Don't tell my husband. He'll just offer that as proof that I don't need to buy any more...) But that won't keep me from adding to the piles.

And that doesn't even count the TBR lists that exist virtually--the books that I've come across through other bloggers or someone has recommended to me or I've just seen somewhere and thought might be interesting to read sometime. And then there's the TBO list (To Be Owned)--those are the vintage mysteries and other books that I have on my "gotta have 'em" list. That's the list I take with me whenever we go on vacation--because you never know when you might find a used bookstore.

It sortof sounds like I'm addicted, doesn't it? Well, at least it's a harmless little addiction....as long as I don't start spending the grocery money on my books.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter S

Now up to day 19 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 22nd is brought to you by the Letter S.

S is for Sherlock Holmes. I realize that there is very little that I can add to everything that has been said about Sherlock Holmes. There are societies in both England and America devoted to the Master and who debate every little detail of his life and adventures as written up by his good friend, Dr. John Watson. But I also realize that if I did not do homage to one of the greatest detectives in English fiction that I would be leaving a major hole in my development as a mystery-lover.

As one of my other posts indicated, I first fell in love with mysteries because of Nancy Drew. And while I read many of the other young adult mystery series (Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Encyclopedia Brown, The Three Investigators), my next real step into the world of detective fiction was with Sherlock Holmes. I distinctly remember spying the green, faux-leather volume sitting in a pride-of-place display in Walden Books in the Fort Wayne mall. Christmas of 1982. It was the only thing I really wanted for Christmas that year. At 799 pages, once I unwrapped it Christmas morning, it was the biggest book I had ever owned. And I loved it. I was well-acquainted with "The Red-Headed League" before 10th grade English ever thought to assign it as part of the curriculum. I already knew Holmes' methods and knew that he never once said, "Elementary, dear Watson."

Sherlock Holmes may not have been the fair-play detective that I would learn to love in my Golden Age mysteries. He was constantly seeing and snatching up clues that he never produced for Watson or the reader until the very end, but I still enjoyed watching him work. Following him through his adventures from The Study in Scarlet all the way through to His Last Bow and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, I was thoroughly caught up in the Victiorian time period, the beginnings of the scientific approach to detection that Holmes put to use, and his constant chiding that Watson may see, but he did not observe. I also enjoyed his mastery of the art of disguise. And I know my love for mysteries would have been far different if I had never encountered London's brilliant "consulting detective."

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter R

Now up to day 18 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 21st is brought to you by the Letter R.

R is for Regency Romance. These romances are a subgenre of romance novels which are set during the English Regency or early 19th century. They are not simply contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, rather they have their own plot and conventions that derive from the works of Jane Austen and the novel of manners. More traditional Regencies feature a great deal of witty, fast-paced dialog between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex.

My favorite Regency Romance novelist is Georgette Heyer. While I am obviously fond of her mystery novels (and actually discovered them first), I also have a great fondness for her historical romances. Heyer was a detailed researcher and it shows in her novels. I not only love the play between her characters, but I thoroughly enjoy the way she gets her history right. So far, my favorite of her Regency novels is The Nonesuch, followed closely by Arabella.

In The Nonesuch: Sir Waldo Hawkridge, known in London society as 'the Nonesuch' for his sporting abilities and perfect manners, is obliged to go into Yorkshire to inspect a property that he has just inherited. Sir Waldo is a very wealthy and philanthropic man, and intends to renovate the house to turn it into yet another of his charity orphanages. While there, he meets Tiffany Wield, a positively dazzling young heiress who is entirely selfish and possessed of a frightful temper, as well as her far more elegant companion-governess, Ancilla Trent. While Waldo's young cousin, Lord Lindeth, falls in and out of love with the young ladies of the neighborhood, Waldo must convince the practical Miss Trent that it is not above her station as a governess to fall in love with him.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter Q

Now up to day 17 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 20th is brought to you by the Letter Q.

Q is for Queen....Ellery Queen, that is.

Ellery Queen is both a fictional detective and the pseudonym used by two American cousins: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (October 20, 1905 – September 3, 1982) and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (January 11, 1905 – April 3, 1971), to write mystery novels.

In a successful series of stories that covered 42 years, Ellery Queen served as both author's name and that of the detective-hero. During the 1930s and much of the 1940s, Ellery Queen was one of the best known American fictional detectives. Movies, radio shows, and television shows have also been based on their works.

Their first Ellery Queen novel was The Roman Hat Mystery, published in 1929. This initial mystery established a reliable formula: an unusual crime; a complex series of clues; supporting characters including Ellery's father, Inspector Richard Queen, and his irascible assistant, Sergeant Velie; and what became the most famous part of Ellery Queen's books: the "Challenge to the Reader." This was a single page near the end of the book declaring that the reader had seen all the same clues Ellery had, and that only one solution was possible.

I am also familiar with that "Challenge" from watching the 1970s television program. I loved it when Ellery would turn to the audience and ask us if we knew who did it. Because, after all, we had all the clues....The television version of Ellery Queen was a bit softer than the novels. The novels are more what I would call "soft-boiled"--not nearly as mean street as the hard-boiled school, but also not what you would call cozies. Kind of a blend of both--with some stories leaning more towards one side or the other.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter P

Now up to day 16 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 19th is brought to you by the Letter P.

P is for Pocket Size editions. I am really attached to the Pocket Size editions of books that came out in the 1930s-1960s and have managed to start a collection of them. I now have about 50 in varying condition. These smaller editions were printed on cheaper paper and were condensed in size (but not in content) and were often advertised as helping the war effort during WWII by conserving paper. The primary imprints for these Pocket Size editions are Pocket Books, Dell and Bantam. I love these smaller sized books--both as a curiosity to collect in and of themselves and because they so often have bizarre and interesting cover art. Here are my some of my favorite Pocket Size Edition Covers from those that I own:

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter O

We've reached the half-way point of our A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 18th is brought to you by the Letter O. And, since the Crime Fiction Alphabet, sponsored by Mysteries in Paradise, is also on the Letter O--I'm going to let my entry do double-duty.

So....O is for Oliver--Anthony Oliver. I could find little background on him--but he is a former Welsh actor who gave up the acting business and took up the antique business. His mystery series revolves around the art and antique world and features the sleuthing twosome of John Webber, a not-quite-retired police inspector, and Lizzie Thomas, a housewife who finds herself in the midst of all sorts of trouble. His set of four stories, all written in the 1980s, are quite fun and funny.

In the past I have read Oliver's first detective novel, The Pew Group. In that one, we had what seemed to be a most innocent murder. Doreen Corder didn't mean to do it, but somehow her foot jumped out just as her odious husband reached the top of the stairs. Her husband was in the antique business and left her almost nothing in his will. All she has is the Pew Group, a very ugly but extremely valuable piece of pottery that she hopes to sell for a pretty penny. But then it is stolen. Doreen takes comfort in the arms of the young and handsome Joseph O'Shea while her mother, Lizzie Thomas, and John Webber work on recovering the Pew Group.

This year I have Oliver's Cover-Up on my list of books to read. It will help me take care of a few challenges and it will show me what Oliver's work was like when he stopped writing--because Cover-Up is his fourth and final book. In this one Joseph Greenwood, a successful art dealer with a penchant for paintings, is unaware that a date with death is looming as he drives through the English countryside. He is distracted by a hot tip he has received about a very valuable and rare Stanley Spencer painting. A painting that is currently in the hands of the one-time actress Victoria Varley. But after only one look at the prize, Greenwood winds up dead--and Victoria and the large bundle of money Greenwood brought with him have vanished. Flaxwood residents Lizzie Thomas and John Webber soon become involved and find out that art collecting can be a most unhealthy business....priceless masterpieces seem to lead to wholesale murder.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter N

Here we are at Day 14 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 16th is brought to you by the Letter N. And N is for Nancy Drew.

This takes me back to the roots of my mystery-fixation. It all began with a six book set of Nancy Drew mysteries that my mom passed on to me when I was seven. She had received the books as a Christmas present when she was in grade school and, knowing that she had an avid reader on her hands already, decided to pass them on to me. That set consisted of The Secret in the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, The Haunted Showboat and The Secret of the Golden Pavilion. I immediately fell in love with Nancy and her blue roadster. I wanted to have adventures like Nancy. I wanted to help people and solve mysteries and have true-blue friends like Nancy.

I've seen critiques of the Nancy Drew stories--all about how it wasn't healthy to entice girls with a heroine who seemed to have all the money in the world and a dad who let her do anything. You know, those things never occured to me. I never thought, "Gee, I wish I was rich like Nancy" or "I wish Dad would let me do whatever because Nancy can do everything." Yeah, I admit it, I wanted a blue roadster (for that matter, I still do), but not as a thing to possess. For me, that blue roadster represented adventure. Anything might happen when you set out on an ordinary day in your blue roadster. And, for Nancy, anything did.

These books were the bread of my reading existence when I was growing up and were always my comfort reads when I needed comfort or just didn't have anything else on hand. You know, it's been over 25 years since I read a Nancy Drew book, but I can still tell you what the Secret was in that Old Clock and where the Hidden Staircase was and why it was important. I can also tell you what the Clue in the Broken Locket was and why The Sign of the Twisted Candles is one of my least favorite of the Nancy Drew books. Given my aging brain, I couldn't give you as much detail about some of the books I've read over last year as I can about my Nancy books.

Speaking of The Clue of the Broken Locket--that is one of my all-time favorite Nancy books. In this one Nancy, Bess and George go to meet another friend Cecily and get involved with a mystery involving a missing locket half, the entertainment business and a ghostly boat. I know that the mystery was changed a bit in the version I read (record companies weren't quite so prevalent when this story was originally written), but that didn't make it any less enjoyable. There is a fair amount of suspense and I love the way Nancy wraps this one up. And Nancy led me by the hand straight into the mystery field. At the same time I discovered Nancy I also found her male counterparts, the Hardy Boys. It didn't matter to me if the protagonists were boys or girls--just give me those mysteries and adventures. From there I jumped straight into Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie and I never looked back.

A-Z Blogging: Letter M

April is speeding right along! We're up to day number 12 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 15th is brought to you by the Letter M.

M is for My Reader's Block. My very own blog. Since my blogiversary is coming up (first post April 24th, 2010), I thought I would go ahead use My Reader's Block for today's letter. I may still be in a post-op cloud on the 24th and forget my blog's birthday. I started My Reader's Block purely as a reading journal for myself. I had taken tentative peeks into the blogging world at the instigation of a dear friend and found a lot of book blogs out here. It seemed like a really good way to keep track of my reading and record my thoughts on the books I read. So many times I'd think (with my aging brain), "I'm sure I've read that--but then couldn't really remember much about it." Just the simple act of recording my thoughts helps eveything stick just a little bit better.

I'm also really thankful for the blogging community that is out here. I have made so many really good blogging friends. People I would never have come into contact with if hadn't started this blogging journey. So--happy blogiversary to My Reader's Block on April 24th and thanks to all of you who have joined me on this journey.

M is also for Mysteries. Now, you knew I couldn't let M go by without bringing those up. Mysteries were my first real love in reading. My mom introduced me to Nancy Drew and from there I jumped to Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes and I was hooked. I love a good classic mystery-- where all the clues are there, mixed in with a good number of red herrings and it's up to the reader to try and get to the solution before the detective. So, mysteries are a major feature here on My Reader's Block. I'll read just about anything...historical, classic lit, poetry, science fiction, biography. But I always come back to mysteries.

A-Z Blogging: Letter L

April is speeding right along! We're up to day number 11 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 14th is brought to you by the Letter L.

L is for Libraries. I love libraries. I've loved libraries since my mom first took me to our local library. That was back in the day when I had a bright orange cardboard card that had a metal plate on it that was used in some mysterious way by the librarian in a machine that went "ca-chunk" and indicated that the desired books were mine for two weeks. I loved knowing there was a huge building filled to the brim with books and that I could go and borrow them any time I wanted! Then when I moved to my now home town I lucked into one of the best public libraries ever. Not only is it rated in the top ten nationally for service and collections...but I knew we had a winner when one summer their theme was science fiction and they displayed a giant model of the Enterprise from Star Trek.

L is also for Personal Library. I don't mean the hodge-podge collection of books that I currently have. I mean the dream library that's on my life-list (bucket-list, whatever you want to call it). One of these days there will be a room in my home absolutely dedicated to books. The real deal. Shelves all along the walls and comfy reading chairs.

And, finally L is for Library Loot.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire (The Captive Reader) and Marg (The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader) that encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out of the library. If you'd like to participate, just write up your post, feel free to steal button, and link up using the Mr. Linky on Claire's site this week. And, of course, check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Here's my haul for this week. It's pretty hefty (and will grow) because I'm stocking up for my recovery after surgery.

Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout
Third Girl by Agatha Christie
The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

From the Library Bookstore:
Playground of Death by John Buxton Hilton

And Leftover Loot:
Victorian Tales of Mystery & Detection: An Oxford Anthology by Michael Cox (ed & selected by)

A-Z Blogging: Letter K

Onward to day number 10 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/or book-related. April 14th is brought to you by the Letter K.

K is for Kate Ross, an American mystery author who wrote four novels set in Regency England and who was taken from us all too soon by cancer. Her novels center on dandy Julian Kestrel, a trend-setter who might very well be patterned on the the real-life Beau Brummel. Kestrel takes up detecting in response to the boredom and emptiness of society life. His partner in detection is his valet Thomas Stokes, also known as Dipper. Kestrel hired Dipper to be his valet when he caught him in an attempt to "dip" or steal his pocket watch.

These Regency-era mystery stories are well-researched and very absorbing. It's been a while since I read them, but I remember finding the characters to be well-drawn and interesting. I was very saddened when I learned that Ross has passed away and that there would be no more Julian Kestrel novels. The books in the series are Cut to the Quick (1994), which won the 1994 Gargoyle award for in the category of Best Historical Mystery, A Broken Vessel (1995), Whom the Gods Love (1996), and The Devil in Music (1997), which won the 1997 Agatha Award for in the category of Best Novel. The Lullaby Thief (1997), a short story featuring Kestrel, is included in the mystery anthology Crime Through Time, edited by Miriam Grace Monfredo and Sharan Newman.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter J

Day number 9 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/0r book-related. April 12th is brought to you by the Letter J.
J is for Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes. It could also be for Richard Jury, Grimes' star detective in her long-running mystery series which takes its titles from the names of British pubs. Here's my review of this fine detective novel:
Jerusalem Inn is one of Martha Grimes' earlier Richard Jury mysteries that I somehow missed when I was on my Grimes reading jag back in the 80s. The earlier mysteries are much more my style--more typical, straight-forward detective story than some of her later work. This one involves Richard Jury and his sidekick Melrose Plant in a couple of Christmas-time murders. A chance encounter in a graveyard finds Jury meeting Helen Minton--a beautiful woman who Jury immediately takes a liking to. He is on his way to his cousin's for the Christmas holidays (not a visit he's particularly looking forward to) and arranges to stop by one day and have dinner when Helen. However, the next time he sees her, she's in no condition to appreciate a meal. She's dead. Her death might have been taken for natural causes if not for two things--her body was found in the Old Hall where she had been showing visitors around and Jury arriving on the spot. An autopsy reveals poison.

Meanwhile, Melrose Plant and his entourage of Ruthven, his butler, his Aunt Agatha, and Vivian Rivington have been invited to a house party in the area. While there, Melrose and a young Marquess stumble over the body of another woman. This time there is no doubt as to the cause of death...a bullet hole through the ermine coat she was wearing bears witness. Jury soon becomes involved in both murders as he finds that there are those in the house party who knew both women. But is there a single motive for the removal of the two? Jury and Plant each talk with the suspects and soon Jury is given the answer....in the form of a doll who has been requisitioned to play the part of baby Jesus in the local pub's nativity scene.

What I like most about the Richard Jury stories is the characters. Jury and Plant and all the recurring characters are great fun and I have enjoyed getting to know them through the series. This one is particularly good in the scenes where Jury is interacting with children. He treats them just right. Where I find Grimes lacking is in her wrap-up. Even though you know who and why at the end...there is still a feeling that you've been left dangling. That's why I'm giving this one three and a half stars instead of four.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter I

Day number 8 on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/0r book-related. April 11th is brought to you by the Letter I.

My choice for today's letter is The Innocent Bottle by Anthony Gilbert. This is one of my vintage mysteries--first published in the US in 1949 (original British title: Lift Up the Lid [1948]). This one is on my TBR list for this year--fulfilling several of my reading challenges, so I don't have a review--but I will provide a synopsis. But first, a little about Anthony Gilbert. Gilbert is a pseudonym for Lucy Beatrice Malleson. She was a prolific British mystery writer (over 70 novels written under this pseudonym alone--she had several others) whose most famous creation is Arthur G. Crook. Her novels are know for skillful plotting, entertaining dialogue and interesting action. Arthur G. Crook is known for the fact that his clients are always innocent. Always.

The Innocent Bottle is a story about money, marriage and murder. "Everybody" knows that Rose East had only married james for his money and so, when he winds up dead, "everyone" knows that she must have killed him. But while he was alive, he not only had a beautiful young wife, he also had a jealous nurse and an ambitious doctor. When he died, he left behind a fortune and a scandal. Once Rose is accused of murdering her husband, Arthur Crook is sure she is innocent--because all his clients are. After his investigations, he offers up the police a blackmailer, a poison pen, and another corpse. But that isn't enough. If he is to save Rose, he will need to find a dangerous killer.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter H

We're up to a week's worth of alphabet on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing a post for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make most of my posts reading &/0r book-related. April 9th is brought to you by the Letter H. And, once again, I'm not sticking to my plan....

Because H is for Hooray! Hooray for my Eagle Scout! We honored Kyle today in a wonderful Eagle Scout Court of Honor conducted by the terrific scouts and leaders of Troop 148. Did everything go absolutely as planned? Of course not. Did I forget something in the planning? Of course I did. But did it matter? Not a bit. We managed to put it together anyway and we had a lovely turnout.

And H is for Honor. Which is a big part of Scouting. The Scout Oath begins: "On my Honor, I will do my best to do my duty...." As a newly minted Eagle Scout, Kyle promised, on his Honor, to to do his best to use his status as an Eagle to help others...whether helping young scouts in his Troop or people in the community. Scouts are meant to be Honorable and trustworthy, and I trust (and believe) that Kyle is. So Hooray for Kyle! And for all the sons out there who have earned the Honorable rank of Eagle Scout!