Weekend Reading

Thursday during lunch I began Lee Child's Bad Luck and Trouble. Friday afternoon I finished. That's how it usually goes with Child's Jack Reacher novels. They're fast, furious and fun and Bad Luck was no exception. I'll hopefully have time to write post my review tonight.

Yesterday we spent a part of our morning reading at Starbucks. My wife was finishing up the last 100 pages of the latest in the Maisie Dobbs series, Among the Mad, and I was beginning Robert Graves', I, Claudius. It may be an ambitious book to begin considering that Baby Barresi is due in 16 days, but I figured that if I didn't begin it now I never would.

Side Projects: I'm still finishing up my re-read of A Study in Scarlet and I may begin another Jack Reacher novel to distract me from anxiously awaiting the little one.

Now reading:
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

On deck:
Persuader by Lee Child
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

LibraryThing - Early Reviewer

I finally snagged my first Early Review book via LibraryThing. I will be reviewing Linwood Barclay's Fear the Worst.

A Letter of Mary

What would you do if you received a letter, written by Mary Magdalene. What if the woman that gave you the letter was a noted expert on Jerusalem and later was mysteriously killed? Those are only a couple of the questions Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes have to try and answer in Laurie R. King's A Letter of Mary. The third book in King's Russell series begins when Dorothy Ruskin, an archaeologist that Russell and Holmes had met in the Middle East a few years prior, visits them at their home and presents a letter supposedly written by Mary Magdalene. In the letter, Mary writes of being an apostle, news that would shock modern (1923) Anglican England and the world. Ruskin asks Russell and Holmes to investigate the letter and try to determine if it is authentic. Unfortunately, they do not even have time to begin their inquiry, when Ruskin is killed in an automobile accident. With her untimely death, Russell and Holmes set to uncover the truth about her death, enlisting the aid of Detective Lestrade and Sherlock's brother, Mycroft.

The investigation takes them to four different groups of potential murderers with four valid motives. Under disguise and careful observation, Russell and Holmes infiltrate and begin to build their case. And though Russell and Holmes are under no real threat of imminent danger, the mystery unravels at a great pace, never leaving the reader too relaxed. Russell as narrator is quick witted, self-depracating and funny. Her personality resonates throughout the book and her smarts are on par with Holmes's. Being married to Holmes, Russell allows the reader to see Holmes during his downtime and during those moments of self-doubt. All of King's novels are full of insight and maintain an authenticity to them that you don't get in a lot of pastiche.

Did the killers kill for money (greed) or were they out to stop the publication of the potentially shattering letter? This is a story about family, ambition and relationships. Especially relationships between between sisters and husband and wife.

What I'm looking forward to

Another friend will be leaving me all to quickly. But as the cliche goes...every ending brings a new beginning. I'm nearing the end of another book. We've spent hours together on the couch or in my car; in my office and in waiting rooms. Though they may sleep in my bag or on table tops, they'll always be on my mind and we'll never be that far apart. And though I may not be spending time with Mary Russell or Sherlock Holmes over the next couple of weeks, I may begin a new relationship with Charlotte Bronte or continue an old one with Jack Reacher. What I'm looking forward to is my next book, my next literary trip.

On deck:
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

New template

Please be honest and tell me what you think about the new template. I'm in the mood to change up the appearance, but I don't think I can trust my own judgement. Is the blog easy to read? Too busy? Just drop me a dime and let me know.

Cool site, but even cooler books. I'm definitely going to have to get these as they come out.

Historical fiction

I don't know what it is with me, but nearly everything I read, buy or browse, is historical fiction. It may be a historical mystery, but, it is historical fiction nonetheless. My question is why do I enjoy reading historical fiction more than fiction that was written years ago. Case in point...I like reading Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. One of my favorite authors and certainly one of, if not my favorite, literary characters. However, I don't have a need to read all the stories. But then I read one of the books in Laurie King's Mary Russell series, or one of Nicholas Meyer's books and I can't wait to read the next. The styles are akin to Doyle's. The characters are either about Holmes or his fictitious wife Mary Russell or even Doyle himself. To my amateur understanding, there is no real discernible difference between the "real Holmes" and the historical fiction Holmes. Maybe it's best to read them at the same time.

With that being said, I'm reading Laurie King's A Letter of Mary and Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. The King book is book 3 in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series and of course, A Study in Scarlet is the first Doyle story to feature Holmes.

You've been in Afghanistan I presume?

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is going to be discussing The Angel's Game tonight at Harvard Bookstore. I just bought the book last week, but I may have to get a second copy and have him sign it. If I'm not too lazy to go out in the rain.

Now reading:
A Letter of Maryy by Laurie King

On deck:
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Book collecting

Last week I went to a little used bookstore a couple miles from my house. I had been there years ago, but somehow forgot about it. I'm glad I remembered it because it's a great little store. Their stock of current/contemporary paperbacks is considerable. And though their hardcovers are few and far between, I did find two that I had been looking to add to my collection. I purchased Nicole Krauss's The History of Love, one of my favorite novels, and Geraldine Brooks's March. Both are first edition/first printings in Fine to Very Fine condition. The Brooks is a UK first edition though. I gauge that they are valued at $30-35 each and I paid $12 for the two. I'm proud to have added them to my library.

The other day I purchased a new hardcover book for the first time in a couple of years...and I'm not even going to read it. I bought Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game because I had to have it. I'm going to collect Ruiz Zafon and I recently purchased The Shadow of the Wind for a buck (worth about $65-70) and though The Angel's Game doesn't have much value as of yet, I'm hoping that it will appreciate while it sits peacefully on my library shelf.

Smoke Scree and The Night Calls

I read every Marianne Macdonald book faster than the last. I don't do it on purpose. She just writes about a subject that I enjoy (bookselling/collecting,) has a great protagonist (Dido Hoare,) and writes well. It's the Trifecta. Smoke Screen was one of the more enjoyable Dido Hoare mysteries. Dido is asked to buy the book collection of an old and odd family. While making an inventory of the library, which is far better than she ever expected, Dido realizes that the woman was once married to a fairly famous, though now dead, poet. Mint copies of his books are in a special case in one of the rooms and she knows there must be manuscripts that go along with them. A valuable find. However, that's when all the trouble begins. She is accused of stealing a lost canto and she can't account for how she got possession of the poem. She happens to find the poem in her car on the same night the poet's ex-wife is murdered in the home that Dido spent the night. Though the mystery of who really committed the crime is fairly easy to uncover, Dido never makes anything easy for herself, her young son or her academic father, Barnabas. If you like mysteries or book collecting or amateur sleuths, this book may be just what you were looking for.

After finishing Smoke Screen, I had the choice of beginning one of two books, both mysteries. David Pirie's The Night Calls or Jacqueline Winspear's Among the Mad. I had every intention of moving onto the latest Maisie Dobbs, so I picked up The Night Calls for a page or two to see what I was eventually going to get myself into. Forty pages later, I couldn't put it down. I guess Maisie and Among the Mad will have to wait a few days as I make my way through The Night Calls. It's just too entertaining to put down.

David Pirie has written a series of books subtitled The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes: A Novel featuring Arthur Conan Doyle. These books take us back to Doyle's medical days and his apprenticeship under Dr. Joseph Bell, widely regarded as the archetype for Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Bell is brilliant and erratic and posseses superior powers of deduction, which Doyle calls, his 'method.'

The series is akin to Mark Frost's in that they are adventures and mysteries about Arthur Conan Doyle and not Holmes. However, Pirie's takes us back further and we see the development of Doyle as med student and how he became part of the investigate and detective process.

"And I found that I missed my jousts with Bell even if, despite my painful lesson, I still had doubts about the man's 'method'. Perhaps he had won that particular contestt, but was there not, even here, some plain old-fashioned luck? After all, in his attempt to divine human character from an inanimate object, I had fed his ego by handing over a damaged artefact."

Now reading:
The Night Calls by David Pirie

On deck:
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Bookish Wednesday

I stopped by the library after work yesterday and picked up a few books. I was hoping to get Matthew Pearl's The Last Dickens, but it was out on loan. Instead I picked up a few other highly anticipated reads. I got the new Maisie Dobbs, Among the Mad, Marianne Macdonald's Smokescreen and David Pirie's The Night Calls.

I've already started Smokescreen and I'll move on to Amond the Mad next. Macdonald has quickly become a favorite author of mine. Her Dido Hoare series is fantastic. I love reading about murder and intrigue anyway, but making the protagonist a rare bookseller makes this series a must.

I haven't read David Pirie before, but he's a must read for Sherlock Holmes pastiche. He writes a series subtitled: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes, and chronicles Holmes's early career, beginning as a med student. I can't wait to get into this one sometime next week. I already collect Winspear and Macdonald and can envision beginning a Pirie collection before long.

Now reading:
Smokescreen by Marianne Macdonald

On deck:
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
The Night Calls by David Pirie

The 6 Messiahs

I started Mark Frost's The 6 Messiahs on Friday and I'm making my way through the book much too quickly to be honest with you. The 6 Messiahs is a sequel to Frost's The List of Seven and both follow Arthur Conan Doyle as he takes part in grand adventure mysteries with Jack Sparks, the archetype for Sherlock Holmes.

In The 6 Messiahs, Doyle is in America on a book tour, getting mobbed by the hungry American readers. Doyle has just killed off Holmes and the American reading public wants more Holmes stories. The reason Doyle killed off Holmes is because Sparks had supposedly met his fate the same way 10 years earlier. But in America, much to Doyle's astonishment, Sparks appears again. Sparks is searching for the sacred missing holy books that are being stolen from around the globe. And it's up to Sparks, Doyle and Doyle's brother, to save the texts before they are put to evil use.

Sparks is a great character, but Doyle is the real star in the Frost novels. In this book, Doyle is a more mature, stronger, self assured man than in the first book. And though he has developed a greater sense of deductive reasoning and a taste for adventure, his natural hesitations in tight situations play nicely against Sparks's absolute actions.

Frost does a nice job making this series (though he only wrote two books) a Sherlock Holmes story on crack, without going overboard. In fact, though I hate to make the correlations, Frosts books bare more of a resemblence to the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie, than to Doyle's stories. The books are grittier and more adventuresome, but Doyle (as Watson) keeps the reader interested and grounded, trying to reign in Sparks from time to time. Luckily for us, he's not always able to do so.

Now reading:
The 6 Messiahs by Mark Frost

On deck:
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

The Unburied

If you are in the mood to take a little trip, I have a recommendation. How about Victorian England. Cobbled streets, kerosene lamps, churches, choirs, fog and murder set the mood for Charles Palliser's The Unburied. A middle aged historian, Dr. Courtine, visits his old friend Fickling, who is teaching at a shabby little school in the country. Courtine and Fickling had a falling out 20 years ago over an event involving Courtine's estranged wife. After all these years, Fickling has invited Courtine to visit and Courtine accepts...but why? Did Courtine accept so he could visit the famous old church in the town? To investigate a 200 year old murder? Or maybe to get some closure on the traumatic event in his own past?

Courtine's investigation into the murders and deaths of church officials 200 years in the past, is wrought with double crossing, murder and deceit. Is Fickling playing Courtine, setting him up? Is the librarian, Dr. Locard, misleading Courtine?

Palliser creates lots of questions for the reader to try and unravel, making the reader use their imagination as much as Courtine.

As Courtine sets out to find the Truth, we curl up and go along for the ride down the crooked cobbled streets, up the slanted, narrow stairs and right into the story.

"I was awakened by the Cathedral clock striking the hour, though I came to consciousness too slowly to count the chimes. The room was in darkness, the heavy curtains admitting no light that could give me a clue to the hour. I lit a candle and, with an effort of will, forced myself out of the bed and into the bonechilling cold of the unheated room. Once I was dressed I looked at my watch. It was eight o'clock! Horrified at such self-indulgence, I pulled back the frayed curtains and found the fog still thick. Even in the muddy light, the time-blackened stonework of the Cathedral was startling close to the window."

This is a heavily saturated Victorian murder mystery, but it never feels overdone. Palliser touches on all the cliches, but doesn't fall victim to them. He enhances them and develops character.

If you're going to take a trip back in time, let Palliser be your guide.

Now reading:
The Unburied by Charles Palliser

On deck:
The Six Messiahs by Mark Frost

Back to what works

A friend at work gave me variety of books to read. Some non-fiction, some fiction. I finally read The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale and it was well worth the wait. It was great being able to see the actual creation of the detective in the late 19th Century and the prototype for detective novels for years to come. Inspector Whicher was highly praised, much maligned and consistently right. If you are interested in detective mystery novels, this is book is a must.

After having such success with this book, I moved on to a novel, The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson. I haven't read much Scandanavian crime novels, but they seem to be crashing the mystery scene these past few years. I just couldn't get into this book. It was dark and gloomy and seemed to take a long time to build up momentum. I don't usually mind a prolonged build-up if it is well written and atmospheric. Eriksson's novel never really got me motivated. It's snowy and cold. I get it. The characters were never fully developed for me either. John used to get in trouble with the law, but now he's a family man who knows a lot about exotic fish. And? Maybe I'm not going to get into the Scandanavian crime scene, but I have loved the Wallander mini-series on PBS.

With that being said, I'm back to what works for me. I'm reading Charles Palliser's The Unburied. It's an atmospheric (yes, twice in one posting) Victorian mystery that involves ghosts stories, old churches, fog, and crooked cobblestone streets. Like a kid reading under the covers at night with a flashlight, I still get a kick out of getting spooked. And tonight, when my wife shuts off her bedside light, I'll stay up a little while longer with The Unburied, flashlight in hand.

On deck:
The Six Messiahs by Mark Frost

I had every intention of reading more of the The List of Seven tonight, but after cooking dinner, washing dishes, and paying bills, I've put the book and picked up the computer (laptop.) After browsing the blogs and checking the usual sites, I made my way to Amazon and bought four books. I know that I'm playing a major role in the death of bookstores, but I can't ignore books for $.01 (not counting $3.99 shipping & handling.) I did pay $1.98 for a book, but four books for $19.92 makes for a successful night. Books purchased, To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas, Ghost Walk and Die Once by Marianne Macdonald and Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle. The Macdonald and Carlisle are bibliomysteries and the Thomas novel is part of the Barker and Llewelyn series. And though I know the books won't arrive for at least 5 business days, I'll be anxious until the package(s) arrive. I think everyone should have books delivered to them everyday. Preferably for free.

Alexander McCall Smith

It was either earlier this year or late last year that I read my first Alexander McCall Smith book. It was The Sunday Philosopher's Club. I enjoyed McCall Smith's humor and wit, and his characters leaped off the page. Not only do I want to read all his novels now, I want to begin to collect his books as well. If I decide to collect his works, it will be quite the endeavor already, because he's published upwards of 14 novels already, along with a list of children's books. But the adventure and search for all his first editions would be a great challenge for me as an amateur collector.

I'm currently reading Espresso Tales, the second book in the 44 Scotland Street series. I usually try not to read books in a series out of order, but I needed something to read and Espresso Tales was on the bookshelf and 44 Scotland Street was not. Such are the necessities of a reader.

Amid all the hoopla, yes, hoopla, surrounding the launch of Kindle 2, I've been able to keep my distance from the eReaders. I've found my solace in Will Thomas's Barker and Llewelyn series and Iain Pears's Jonathan Argyll series. Thomas's Llewelyn as narrator of Thomas's series is a highly likable character and guide through the streets of Victorian London. The Llewelyn novels are akin to Caleb Carr's 19th Century novels that take place in dark NYC,The Alienist and Angel of Darkness. Grisly murders, underground societies and shady cobblestone streets. But they differ in that Thomas's novel are a little lighter in tone, which makes for a much quicker read. Carr's novels are often time lengthy and tiresome...and dreary. Thomas brings humor and self deprecation into an already rich story. Thomas Llewelyn is a young man that has just lost his young wife to TB and had spent 8 months in prison. He finds work for one of London's leading Enquiry Agents, Cyrus Barker and begins his tutelage, investigating murders. Barker is one of London's first "Orientalists" and is well known for spending years in China, learning the culture, martial arts and fighting side by side with some of China's most infamous armies. All of this is incredibly new to Llewelyn and every few chapters he learns something new of his master. In a way, I'd say these novels are more entertaining than any Sherlock Holmes story. Though they may not be breaking any new ground, they are exactly what I want from mystery novels...excellent writing, good stories and unforgettable characters.

Pears's Argyll novels are part of the Art Mystery series set in Rome and involve art dealer Jonathan Argyll and his fiance, Flavia de Stefano, inspector in Rome's Art Squad. These books remind of a lot of different Italian mysteries and I don't know why. A mix of Andrea Camilleri, Michael Dibdin and Donna Leon. But the strange thing is, these are nothing like that. I don't have a good reason why I keep relating these series, I just do. The Argyll novels are written in third person, but I think they would have been better if told from either Argyll's perspective or better yet, from Flavia's. She seems to have the most internal turmoil and I'd like to see her cursing or speaking in Italian every now and then. Either way, anytime I get to visit old monasteries, read about religious icons or imagine looking at Baroque paintings, is worth my time. I'm only two books into each series, so I have quite a few more to get my hands on. Can't wait.

Currently reading:
Iain Pears Death and Restoration
G.K. Chesterton The Complete Father Brown Stories

On deck:
Marianne Macdonald Blood Lies

I first read Wallace Stegner a few years ago. His novel Crossing to Safety was filled of gorgeous prose and heartfelt reality. Now it's the centennial of his birth and he's still fighting (or not fighting) for recognition.

I'm in NYC for the Tools of Change Conference for Publishing and finally made my way down to the Strand Bookstore last night and made my way through the 18 miles of books. This may come off like blasphemy, but there was just too much. Too many books, too many shoppers, not enough space. I did buy three books and if I was shopping like I used (without care for condition of a book,) I'm sure there would have been many more books making it to the checkout line with me. Instead, I got three firsts in G (good) to VG (very good) condition. The third book in the Barker and Llewelyn series by Will Thomas, The Limehouse Text; Road Kill and Blood Lies in the Dido Hoare series by Marianne Macdonald.

None are the first books in the series and none are in F or VF condition, but I believe they were good buys for $6 each. I think my library will be happy to greet them tomorrow afternoon. Right now they are only worth what I paid, but these were bought for my personal collection, not for potential resale.