Mysterymax's 2015 Challenge = Part 2

This year I have 12 'categories' - one for each month. They are highlighted with an event that occurred on the 'ides' (the 15th) of the month. I will hope for at least 15 books per month, and I hope to read mostly books that would be in keeping with the event of the month...but I am not going to hold myself to it... we'll just do what we can. (After all, I can't wait until December to read steampunk!)

January
15 January 1947 - The corpse of Elizabeth Short "The Black Dahlia" was discovered.



Mystery and Crime is the overall theme.

1. The Whites by Harry Brandt - 4.0
2. Dreadnought by Cherie Priest - 4.0
3. Einstein Must Die by Chris Kohout - 3.5
4. A Taste For Death by P. D. James - 3.5
5. The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott - 3.5
6. The Sayers Swindle by Victoria Abbott - 3.5
7. The Wolfe Widow by Victoria Abbott - 3.5
8. The Murder of the Century by Paul Collins - 3/5
9. Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson - 4.0
10 A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black - 3.0
11 Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason - 3.5
12 Steampunk Holmes : Legacy of the Nautilus by P. C. Martin - 3.5
13 Winter House by Carol O'Connell - 3.5

February
15 February 1903 - Morris Mitchtum sells the first "Teddy Bears" in the US



JP/JF/YA and children as main characters is the overall theme.

1. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in my copy of The Works of Jules Verne - 4.0
2. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley - 3.0
3. The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Manus Pinkwater - 5.0
4. I Came, I Saw, I Lost My Luggage by Peter Biddlecombe - 2.5
5. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - 3.0
6. Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Manus Pinkwater 4.5
7. Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie - 3.0
8. In the Ballpark by George Gmelch - 3.5
9. The Willows in Winter by William Horwood - 4.5
10 The Chicken Squad by Doreen Cronin - 3.5
11 The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Manus Pinkwater - 3.5
12 Holes by Louis Sachar - 4.0
13. The Boy Who Invented the Bubble Gun by Paul Gallico - 4.0
14 The Fighting Shortstop by Richard T. Flood - 3.0
15 The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois - 3.0
16 Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford - 4.0
17 Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick - 3.5
18. The Glass Sentence by. S. E. Grove - 4.5
19. On Children's Literature by Isabelle Jan - 3.5

March
15 March 44 BC - Julius Caesar was assassinated. (You guessed that one, right?)



Historical fiction and anything historical for this one overall.

1. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes - 4.5
2. Dead Wake by Erik Larson - 4.0
3. The Hollywood Murders by Ellery Queen - 4.0
4. The Day of Atonement by David Liss - 4.0
5. A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd - 4.0
6. Snake Bite by Andrew Lane - 4.0
7. Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder by Giles Brandreth - 4.0
8. The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden - 4.0
9. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook by Kate White - 5.0
10 Festive in Death by J. D. Robb - 3.5
11 Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb - 3.5
12 The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters - 3.0

April
15 April 1912 - The Titanic sinks



Disasters overall theme.

1. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania by A. A. Hoehling - 3.0
2. The Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland by Logan Marshall - 3.5
3. 58 Degrees North by Hugo Kugiya - 3.5
4. When the Dancing Stopped by Brian Hicks - 3.5
5. Snowbound Streamliner by Robert J. Church - 3.0
6. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman -3.5
7. And Hell Followed With It by Bonar Menninger - 4.0
8. Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan - 4.0

May
15 May 1973 - Nolan Ryan pitches his first no-hitter



Baseball, of course.

Now it looks as if I won't get many baseball books read in May as I will be away for the whole month. Have loaded down my ipad with books, but they are almost all mysteries. I will list them here, of course.

1. Stray Souls by Kate Griffin - 5.0
2. The Glass God by Kate Griffin - 5.0
3. Sally's in the Alley by Norbert Davis - 4.0
4. The Club of Queer Trades by G. K. Chesterton -3.0
5. This Doesn't Happen In the Movies by Renee Pawlish - 4.0
6. The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux - 4.0
7. Ratcatcher by Tim Stevens - 4.0
8. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie - 3.0
9. Never Say Spy by Diane Henders - 3.5
10. Oh, Murder Mine by Norbert Davis - 4.0
11. The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor - 3.5
12. Terminal City by Linda Fairstein - 3.5
13. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens - 4.0

June
15 June 1921 - Bessie Coleman becomes the first African-American to obtain a pilot's license (She had to go to France to get it)



Women!!!

1. Irreparable Harm by Melissa F. Miller - 4.0
2. 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie - 4.0
3. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman Sundberg - 4.0
4. Sabine by Nicolas Freeling - 3.0
5. The Diamond Conspiracy by Philippa Ballantine - 4.0
6. The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein - 3.0
7. Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black - 4.0
8. Murder on the Champ de Mars by Cara Black - 3.0
9. The Doll by Taylor Stevens - 4.0
10. Time and Again by Jack Finney - 3.5

July
15 July 1988 - The movie "Die Hard" opens



I need a thriller category.

1. The Catch by Taylor Stevens - 4.0
2. 39 Steps by John Buchan - 3.5
3. The Mask (Taylor Stevens) by Taylor Stevens - 3.5
4. Thief (Mark Sullivan) by Mark Sullivan - 4.0
5. Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay - 4.0
6. Vicious Circle by Wilbur Smith - 2.5
7. The Hydra Protocol by David Wellington - 2.5
8. A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre - 4.0
9. Dry Bones by Craig Johnson - 4.5
10 Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead by George Mann - 3.0

August
15 August 1994 - The assassin Llich Rameriz Sanchez (The Jackal) is arrested



Here's where we put assassins, thieves, anti-heros and assorted bad guys.

1. "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - 3.5
2. The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro - 4.0
3. The Art Thief by Noah Charney - 3.5
4, The Road to Ruin by Donald E. Westlake - 3.5
5. The Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly - 4.0 (read in May but forgot to enter it)
6. The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake - 4.0
7. Watch Your Back! by Donald E. Westlake - 4.0
8. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson - 4.5
9. The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette - 2.5
10. Caper by Lawrence Sanders - 4.0
11. The Zoo Gang by Paul Gallico - 4.0
12. Easy Death by Daniel Boyd - 4.0
13. The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout - 4.0
14. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith - 2.0
15. Kiss for a Killer by Bruce Sanders - 3.5
16. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey - 4.0
17. Tenacity by James Law - 3.0
18. When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning - 5.0

September
15 September 1890 - Agatha Christie's Birthday



Classic mysteries is the overall theme.

1. The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden - 4.5
2. The Case of the Counterfeit Eye by Erle Stanley Gardner - 4.0
3. A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes - 4.0
4. Maigret and the Saturday Caller by Georges Siminon - 3.5
5. Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky - 3.5
6. Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie - 2.5
7. While Drowning in the Desert by Don Winslow - 4.5
8. The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason - 3.0
9. The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason - 3.5
10. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham - 3.5
11. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers - 3.5
12. The Drowning Pool by Ross MacDonald = 3.5
13. The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow - 4.5
14. The Gentlemen's Hour by Don Winslow - 4.5

October
15 October 1917 - Mati Hari executed



Spies!!!

1. When Somebody Kills You by Robert Randisi - 3.5
2. Corridors of the Night by Anne Perry - 4.0
3. The Silent Man by Alex Berenson - 3.0
4. The Instant Enemy by Ross Macdonald - 3.5
5. Valentino Pier by Reed Coleman - 3.0
6. A Death in the Family by Michael Stanley - 4.5
7. Manhattan Mayhem by Mary Higgins Clark - 3.0 (read earlier in the month and forgot to list it)

November
15 November 1904 - Ethel Barrymore says, "That's all there is. There isn't any more." as the curtain falls



Anthologies and essays were going to be my overall theme but there are too many new books waiting so this is going to be a catch all month - hopefully I will read the ones on my tbr table till I can say, 'that's all there is. There isn't any more".

1. The Devil's Share by Wallace Stroby - 3.0
2. Mean Streets by Jim Butcher - 3.0
3. The Marsh Madness by Victoria Abbott - 4.0
4. Six and a Half Deadly Sins by Colin Cotterill - 4.0
5. The Novel Habits of Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - 3.5
6. Dickey Chapelle Under Fire - 4.0
7. Second Shot by Zoe Sharp - 4.5
8. Murdered Sleep by R. A. Harold - 4.0
9. The Boardwalk by Reed Farrel Coleman - 3.5
10. Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird - 4.0
11. What the Fly Saw by Frankie Y. Bailey - 4.0
12. The Innocent by Taylor Stevens - 4.0
13. Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich - 4.0
14. Signal A Sam Dryden novel by Patrick Lee - 5.0
15. The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden - 4.0

December
15 December 1854 - The first street cleaning machine is patented



Steampunk and science fiction of all sorts is the overall theme.

1. Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh - 4.5
2. Ganymede by Cherie Priest - 4.5
3. Clementine by Cherie Priest - 4.5
4. Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest - 4.5
5. The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest - 4.5
6. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats by Mark Hodder = 4.0
7. The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason - 2.5
8. Weird Detectives by Paula Guran = 4.0

AlphaKIT Reads

Jan: J, T - A Taste For Death by P. D. James, Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson
Feb: I, B - I Came, I Saw, I Lost My Luggage by Peter Biddlecombe, In the Ballpark by George Gmelch, The Boy Who Invented the Bubble Gun by Paul Gallico
Mar: H, Q - The Hollywood Murders by Ellery Queen
Apr: E, F - The Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland by Logan Marshall. And Hell Followed With It by Bonar Menninger
May: R, L - Ratcatcher by Tim Stevens. The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
Jun: D, Y - The Doll by Taylor Stevens
Jul: W, K - Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead
Aug: V, M - The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette
Sep: A, O
Oct: P, U
Nov: N, C
Dec: G, S
Yearlong: X and Z

SFFF CAT Reads
Jan: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Einstein Must Die by Chris Kohout
Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson
Steampunk Holmes : Legacy of the Nautilus
Feb: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in The Works of Jules Verne
March: The Last Policeman
April: Shadow Scale
May: Stray Souls, The Glass God
June: Time and Again
July: Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead
August:
September: The Clockwork Scarab and The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason
October;
November: Mean Streets

RandomCAT
Feb: Book made into a movie
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Holes by Louis Sachar
Mar: Everybody's doing it
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters
May: Life Changes

Cooking With KIT
Doing this while sticking to my diet will be tricky.
January - focus breakfast/eggs
- The Tabasco Cookbook by Paul McIlhenny - Shirred Eggs With Sherried Mushrooms

ER Reads/Reviews
Nov 2014 Batch: The Whites by Harry Brandt
Dec 2014 Batch: Dead Wake by Erik Larson
Oct 2014 Batch: The Day of Atonement by David Liss
January 2015 Batch: never received
February 2015 Batch: The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook
March 2015 Batch: A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre
April 2015 Batch: Manhattan Mayhem
May 2015 Batch: The Mask (Taylor Stevens) by Taylor Stevens
June 2015 Batch: no book
July 2015 Batch: Tenacity by James Law
August 2015 Batch: Corridors of the Night

The Best of the Batch & Some Disappointments

November
Best: Signal
Disappointing: The Devil's Share

October
Best: A Death in the Family
Disappointing: The Silent Man

September
Best: While Drowning in the Desert
Disappointing: The Postern of Fate

August
Best: The Art Forger
Disappointing: The Prone Gunman

July
Best: Dry Bones
Disappointing: Vicious Circle

June
Best: The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
Disappointing: Sabine

May
Best: Stray Souls
Disappointing: The Club of Queer Trades

April
Best: And Hell Followed With It
Disappointing: The Last Voyage of the Lusitania

March
Best: Matterhorn
Disappointing: The Last Policeman

February
Best: The Glass Sentence
Disappointing: I Came, I Saw, I Lost My Luggage

January
Best: Dreadnought
Disappointing: A Death in Summer

Two books to start off the month -
"The Yellow Wallpaper' and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Charlotte Perkins. It was a loan from a friend who wanted to share with me one of the stories, "Three Thanksgivings", which I would say was the best one in the book. An excellent story of an elderly woman who finds a way to remain on her own, in her own home, instead of going off to live with her kids. Great story. I also liked "The Cottagette", but "The Yellow Wallpaper" was too much a horror story for me.

Then I had a sit and read all day day because I opened up The Art Forger by Shapiro and could not put it down. Claire Roth is an artist who, for a living, creates high quality copies of masterpieces of art. When the director of a well known art gallery brings her a painting to copy she recognizes it as a Degas work that had been stolen from a museum twenty-five years earlier. As she begins to work she realizes that the painting the museum had was a copy as well. Good writing, good character buildup, good pacing, - a real spellbinder.

Happy new thread! Lots of interesting books so far. And I liked The Art Forger when I read it too.

Happy new thread! I love when a book just pulls you in for an entire day! The mental equivalent of soaking in a hot bath. :)

Happy new thread!!

Thanks Eva.

Ahh, new thread! Happy reading!

Happy new thread!

The Art Thief by Noah Charney was my next read and while I liked it, it wasn't a sit-down-and-finish book so I gave it a bit lower rating than my previous one. It was a bit more complex, dealing with two thefts and some forgeries. Very interesting view of Christie's auctions. Enjoyable, just not hold-your-breath.

The Road to Ruin was my first 'Dortmunder' book. Dortmunder is a thief; but if this book is any example, not a very good one. He and his cronies set out to steal some vintage cars from a very disliked man. They obtain access by getting hired on as staff, but before they can carry out the heist the man, and Dortmunder, are kidnapped by others who dislike the man. It is a comedy of errors. I am starting another in the series.

The Hot Rock was even better than the one above. Dortmunder and his gang need five successful heists in an attempt to get a very large diamond. Am anxious to see the movie.

Happy new thread! I am trying to catch up after being away for a bit -- this month's category looks like fun.

Guess I am going to have to make a trip to the library for some more Dortmunder books. Just finished Watch Your Back!. Another good heist, that is planned superbly and, of course, goes awry. Also the gang's favorite hangout, O. J.'s, is being taken over by 'real' criminals so they have to sideline their heist plans to deal with that which delays their plans and causes all to get all mixed up. Of course, it will work out, more or less, in the end.

I decided to read The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson as the book says 'he became a professional kidnapper' and I thought it would fit into this month's theme.

In this incredible book Jun Do becomes many things, including a kidnapper. It is a story about North Korea and the way in which citizen's lives are regimented. It infiltrated my thoughts a great deal. Here in Vermont we have a Vermont Humanities Council that puts on programs and every year has a Vermont Reads program in which one book is read by people across the state. This year the theme is "why do stories matter" and the book is Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I found myself constantly going back to this question of the importance of stories when I read The Orphan Master's Son, not only for the importance of the story itself, but the importance of the State-made stories in the novel.

There are two main women in the book, Sun Moon and Girl Rower. Sun Moon is an actress and singer in high favor, Girl Rower is an American that was captured. Sun Moon asks her, "I wonder of what you must daily endure in America, having no government to protect you, no one to tell you what to do. Is it true you're given no ration card, that you must find food for yourself? Is it true that you labor for no higher purpose than paper money? ... and if a woman loses her husband, how does she know the government will assign her a good replacement?

Is North Korea really as portrayed here? I think that it doesn't matter for the purposes of the story. We are given a place where the government controls people by telling them what to think, creating stories to outline the reality they must believe in, and enforcing it by removing people from their lives for any reason and doing what they will with them.

Only when Sun Moon allows herself to tell her story to Jun Do does the hope for escape and freedom begin to flame.

Excellent read.

I haven't read 'The Orphan Master's Son'; but I did happen to be at an event where Adam Johnson appeared, and I remember him talking about his trip to North Korea. I got the impression that N.K. life is extremely, bizarrely & frighteningly totalitarian, and backwards.

Obviously, I can't speak to the details of the book having not only not read the book; but not having been to North Korea; but Adam Johnson was so intense about the topic that it wouldn't surprise me if the cultural elements of the book were true (and then some!)

That's the feeling I had as well, but I think the story would be almost as powerful if it were a made up country. The feeling that it might be actual just makes it that much more sad.

>29 mysterymax: Yet another BB has hit. This sounds very interesting. And without having read the book or having been to North Korea, I can imagine that the portray is close to the truth. Certainly not true for all North Koreans, but I find it likely that there are many thinking more or less this way.

The Prone Gunman is a French noir story. I could only give in 2.5 stars as I just couldn't get any attachment to it. Perhaps it is the translation. It wasn't bad, it just couldn't get me involved enough to give it 3 stars.

Martin Terrier is a hired killer that wants to get out of the business but of course his 'masters' have other ideas. A rather lackluster ending, as well.

>33 mysterymax: Uh-oh I have that one in my TBR! I will look for either a different translation or the original French...

>34 rabbitprincess: Well, it gets good reviews from everyone else. I would say try the French for sure. Terrier just never seemed like a person to me. Let me know how the French goes.

Caper by Lawrence Sanders was a very good heist yarn. A mystery writer's editor tells her she has 'lost touch' with her readers and her books are too far off real to be any good. She decides to plan a caper to find out what her books should be like, never intending to actually commit the crime. She plans a jewel heist and recruits a gang. Of course things go wrong...

>29 mysterymax: - Is North Korea really as portrayed here?. I highly recommend reading Nothing to Envy, a true story about people who have escaped from North Korea. The answer is yes, it is as portrayed.

I figured it was.

The Zoo Gang by Paul Gallico was a wonderful read. Gallico is one of my favorite writers and this was one that has been on my shelf for years, but I had never gotten around to reading it. So glad I finally did.

The Zoo Gang is made of five men who had worked together in the French Resistance and were called the Leopard, the Tiger, the Elephant and the Wolf. Their leader, Colonel Roquebrun, was The Fox. Now the war is over and they are all back to legit work. The Colonel owns an antique shop.

The head of the local police, Captain Scoubide, is a friend of the Colonel. The book is actually four different stories. In each the Captain has come to the Colonel for help, because of the Colonel's vast knowledge about crime and criminals. The Zoo Gang reunites to help Captain Scoubide solve his cases.

Each of the cases reveals a bit more of the characters. All the cases are interesting and their resolution quite unique.

>29 mysterymax:, >37 LittleTaiko: I will second the recommendation of Nothing to Envy. I am not a big reader of nonfiction and I found it fascinating.

Easy Death was a really enjoyable heist story. The target is an armored car, it's a snow storm and things (the get-away) get complicated. The story is told by or about different characters in different chapters, and the chapters aren't in a linear time either, but is remarkably easy to follow. Very enjoyable read.

The Shootist was a reread, but still a good book. A shootist was what a gunfighter was called back in time when there were gunfighters. J.B. Books is a well known gunfighter who is now dying of cancer. He goes to El Paso for his last days because he knows the doctor there. I don't want to give anything away in case you haven't read the book, but I highly recommend it.

>42 mysterymax: Have to move this one to the on-deck pile sometime! Glad to hear it is recommended; I picked it up at a book sale on a whim (probably because of the John Wayne movie, which I haven't seen).

That was the reason I picked this one up as well. I think I need to re-watch it, it was so long ago...

I think I just don't care for noir. I regret the time I spent reading Strangers on a Train

>45 mysterymax: :( Too bad as it is such a good film!

>46 leslie.98: I have the film on my to watch list. Since Hitchcock had so little of the book in the film 39 Steps, I am figuring that the Strangers movie will bear little or no resemblance to the book.

Let me know if it is significantly different! I was a big fan of the classic film noir before I realized that so many of them were based on books and am now slowly trying to read the original books.

Kiss for a Killer by Bruce Sanders was a difficult one to put in my collection. Seems mine is the only copy on LT at the moment. The book didn't even have a publication date, but it did have a Library of Congress Card Catalog number (even though it didn't show in their data base). So I was able to eventually run it down. Pity this writer and his books seem to be so little known, the story was intricate, clear and interesting. The writing was easy to read.

Hugo asks his wife how she would feel about him if he had murdered someone. In fact, he intends (or at least plans) to do just that. The intended victim is blackmailing him. Problem is someone else commits the deed, and before Hugo can return home he is kidnapped by some bad guys who want to know if he killed the blackmailer and Scotland Yard is knocking on his door at home and questioning his wife.

I would have given it four stars but it turned out a new character was brought in at the end (either that or a reference to him earlier sailed right by me). However, I did not guess who the murderer was until the very end.
I would recommend the book, if you can find a copy!

Brat Farrar is quite a charming imposter. Quite enjoy Tey's novel. By page 66 I knew that there had been a murder, but I really needed to see how it would all come out. Excellent.

Brat Farrar was the first Josephine Tay that I read and it made me a fan of her writing. Next month I will be reading The Singing Sands which is the last book in the Alan Grant series.

She is good, I agree!

>50 mysterymax: >51 DeltaQueen50: That one is in a TBR pile. I'm hoping I'll get to that one in September.

>50 mysterymax:, >51 DeltaQueen50:, >53 thornton37814: I love Josephine Tey's mysteries! And Brat Farrar is one of her best, although my personal favorite remains The Franchise Affair.

Two books:
The first, Tenacity by James Law made me want to take publishers and shake them till their teeth rattle. Yes, I know that 'strong female leads' is the "in" thing right now, but that doesn't mean that she should be stupid. And repeatedly getting beaten up and almost killed doesn't make her 'strong', especially when it happens because she won't trust her partners to back her up. I gave it three stars as the story part is a decent enough thriller, but I have to tell you that I often wished she would get killed just to to put me out of my misery.

The second, When Books Went to War by Molly Guptilll Manning was everything a non-fiction book should be - easy to read, well documented, interesting, pictures, and a compelling subject. Thanks to >lindapanzo for the BB on this one. My only five star book this month. A great way to wind up August.

Today is a massive cleaning day so probably don't have time to read anything else and finish it today, so tomorrow I start both classic mysteries and sequels & series. Can hardly wait... have 22 books picked out to read, don't know how many I will get through, but some are 2 - 3 hour ones (Perry Mason type), so who knows.

August in Review
I enjoyed my theme this month of 'bad guys'. I had hoped that Chris Ewan would have a book out in time for this theme, but since he didn't I fell in love with Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series. It was also a month of reading new authors, it seems. A good run at getting some of my TBRs off the shelf, too.

Books Read: 18
Reviews Written: 5
Off My Shelves: 16
New Authors: 10
Books to Date: 103

Book That Left Me Breathless: nothing really
Mystery I Enjoyed the Most: The Art Forger
Biggest Disappointment: The Prone Gunman
Honorable Mention: When Books Went to War

RandomCAT reads:
SFFF Cat:
AlphaKit: (M) The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette
(Z) The Zoo Gang

Off to a good start with a 4.5 stars book - The Death of Kings the second in the Emperor series. It is a great series for those who like historical fiction. This covers the time that Caesar is in Africa, through the war with Spartacus. This goes in the Sept. Series & Sequels...

The Case of the Counterfeit Eye by Erle Stanley Gardner fit both my Sept theme and the Sept Series theme. Had a challenge in that my image of Perry Mason has always been Raymond Burr, yet reading I can't make Burr fit the image I imagine in the book. Our literary Mason is far more active (at lease in his younger days - as this was an early book) that I remember Mason being. The case and his solution was good.

A Rage in Harlem is the first of eight by Chester Himes. I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. His characters are spot on, there is grit and humor. Will be reading more of Himes series. Not for the lover of cozy mysteries - it is Harlem in the 50s.

Maigret and the Saturday Caller by Georges Simenon is the 59th Maigret book. I loved the flow of the translation in this one (there are so many different translators in this series) but the story plot wasn't quite up to its usual mark. Here a man calls on Maigret at his home and tells him how much he wants to kill his wife and her lover. Maigret makes him promise to call every day but after a couple of days the calls cease.

>60 mysterymax: - Wow. I thought 59 books in a series was a large number, and then I went to the book page and discovered that there are 76 books listed in Maigret series here on LT. Double Wow.

>61 lkernagh: And most of them are pretty darn good. I find small differences which I think are more due to the translator than anything else, and of course, some stories just appeal to you more than others, so I do have favorites. Don't know if you ever saw the tv shows, they were well done too.

Speaking of Maigret, I just heard that Rowan Atkinson will be playing him in two standalone movies produced by ITV!

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-bring-maigret-back-british-tv-...

Not sure what to think about this, but it is nice to see Rowan acting again.

>63 rabbitprincess: I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. I so love the way that Michael Gambon portrayed Maigret, it will be hard to see someone else do it. But it will be nice to have some new stories on dvd.

Next read was Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky. V.I. has always been one of my favorite detectives and I decided to reread.

Got a gem today, a first edition copy (1922) of Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company for only $25! Beautiful illustrations by Wyeth. It had my name on it and called out from a far distance corner of the shop. ;-)

Congratulations on your find, my brother collects Arthur Conan Doyle's works and I don't think that is one that he has!

>oh, it's lovely. (Your brother has good taste!)

Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie is a pretty weak offering. Hiding place very clear from early on, overall motive very hazy and weak, Tommy and Tuppence in their 70s and Tuppence very much off on rambling tangents. I am beginning to wonder why Christie has such a reputation at the Queen of the Golden Age of mysteries. Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, Allingham, Moyes... they all wrote better mysteries. Just saying.

I haven't laughed out loud at a book this much since I first read Stephanie Plum. While Drowning in the Desert, by Don Winslow is a very very funny mystery. Neal Carey is hired to go out to Las Vegas and bring home an old man. Turns out the old man is Natty Silver, a old burlesque comedian who witnessed a crime.

This is the 5th book in the Carey series. I have not read any of them so I don't know if they are all this much fun, but I am going to find out. It was a very enjoyable read. (I kind of feel like I found a hidden gem.) The book was offered to me at the library because two libraries had sent the book for one person, so I was asked if I would like to read it before it got sent back. Glad I said yes.

The Clockwork Scarab is a YA book featuring the daughter of Mycroft Holmes and the sister of Bram Stoker. Part mystery, part steampunk it is quite enjoyable as they go to work for the Crown and its agent, Irene Adler.

The Spiritglass Charade is the next book in the Stoker and Holmes series. Characters and plot are more developed and complex. Looks like the series just gets better and better.

>69 mysterymax: I didn't like any of the Tommy and Tuppence stories by Christie, but I loved many others. Christie admitted that she wrote some pot-boilers just to keep going financially after the split from Archie.

>70 mysterymax: Your book bullet hit the target! I need something to give me a laugh right now.

>73 VivienneR: Let me know how you like it. Humor is so personal.

One that fits both my monthly theme and the Sept Series challenge - Police at the Funeral is an Albert Campion book, actually the fourth in the series by Margery Allingham. One of those British mansions where everyone might be a victim and anyone might be the murderer.

>75 mysterymax: I liked the Campion books but it has been years since I have read any Allingham. Maybe it is time to think about rereading them.

>75 mysterymax: I am working my way through the Campion series and Police At the Funeral is the next one up for me. I love mysteries that are set in a country house with everyone falling under suspicion at one time for another. :)

Another in my classic mystery theme - Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers. I preferred this to the ones after he falls for Harriet. Jarring note when he keeps using the word 'ain't'. I don't know if he uses it on purpose and some sort of humor, but it seems out of character.

>78 mysterymax: That is the first Wimsey book so she may have overdone the accent but I think that 'ain't' was used by that section of British society during the 1920s & 30s as part of a slang (so used in a different way than it is typically used by Americans); similar to dropping the g in the -ing part of verbs such as walkin'...

>79 leslie.98: Ah so, I figured it might be something like that but didn't know about it being part of a 'fad'. Good to know. That, the -ing thing and also both he and Parker calling each other 'son'.

>79 leslie.98: I remember reading somewhere that Queen Victoria used "ain't".

So I wonder at what point did it become "bad grammar"?

Two books came today, I am feeling like it must be Christmas! Anne Perry's Corridors of the Night and Manhattan Mayhem which was supposed to be an ER book, but it certainly wasn't "early". I have waited so long I really don't feel like rushing to do the review.

Finished Ross MacDonald's The Drowning Pool. I don't know why it took me so long other than I was always tired when I started to read... It is a Lew Archer mystery. and Lew really had his work cut out for him. None of his clients are particularly likeable with the exception of the matriarch, Olivia, who wasn't Lew's client until she got killed and Lew determines to find out who did it.

>82 mysterymax: I have no actual knowledge to back me up, but I wonder if "ain't" was already bad grammar at the time, but the aristocrats used it anyway because they could afford to use poor grammar, so to speak. Like how some aristocrats of that time had shabby clothes and furniture, and only the nouveau riche had spotlessly clean and up-to-date houses. In other words, the folks with old money had nothing to prove and could afford to be lax with outward symbols of status. But like I said, this is just a completely unsubstantiated theory on my part!

I love looking up etymologies and the history of language and words... Once you posed the question, "So I wonder at what point did it become "bad grammar"?" I was curious; but I had to wait until I got back from my last road trip to look into it at all. I found the following bit at Wikipedia:

Prescription and stigma
Ain't has been called "the most stigmatized word in the language," as well as "the most powerful social marker" in English. It is a prominent example in English of a shibboleth – a word used to determine inclusion in, or exclusion from, a group.
Historically, this was not the case. For most of its history, ain't was acceptable across many social and regional contexts. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, ain't and its predecessors were part of normal usage for both educated and uneducated English speakers, and was found in the correspondence and fiction of, among others, Jonathan Swift, Lord Byron, Henry Fielding, and George Eliot. For Victorian English novelists William Makepeace Thackeray and Anthony Trollope, the educated and upper classes in 19th century England could use ain't freely, but in familiar speech only. Ain't continued to be used without restraint by many upper middle class speakers in southern England into the beginning of the 20th century.
Ain't was a prominent target of early prescriptivist writers. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, some writers began to propound the need to establish a "pure" or "correct" form of English. Contractions in general were disapproved of, but ain't and its variants were seen as particularly "vulgar." This push for "correctness" was driven mainly by the middle class, which led to an incongruous situation in which non-standard constructions continued to be used by both lower and upper classes, but not by the middle class. The reason for the strength of the prescription against ain't is not entirely clear.

>86 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Yes, thank you, I never would have imagined.

I was at the library today checking out the 400s for the Dewey Cat next year since that's the only group where my TBR is woefully deficient and I saw a book titled "The History of Ain't" or something like that. (There's no touchstone in LT that I could find so the title must be a little different.) It might be interesting if you're doing the Dewey next year.

>89 dudes22: I found it! It's called, The Story of Ain't: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published (by David Skinner) It's actually the story of Webster's Third, the dictionary that broke convention by reflecting language as it is actually spoken (versus providing only "correct" forms.) This book will also work for those playing BingoDOG for the square, "About Language." Regardless, I just took the BB! :-D

Aahh! "The Story ..." You probably used one of those LT tag combo/word association thingies I never know how to do. There's so much here on LT I can't keep up ( or remember).

I find it hard to believe that with the thousands upon thousands of mysteries that I have read over my lifetime I had not read any Don Winslow until earlier this month. Just finished The Dawn Patrol. While not as funny as the earlier one it is still superb. His characters are so full, his dialogue and his plots. I would never have expected to so enjoy a book where the characters are into surfing. The California scene is not my thing, but I really enjoyed it. Boone Daniels is an ex-cop, now surfer and private investigator. A drop dead gorgeous gal brings him a case - a witness has disappeared and she wants Boone to find her. The problem is a mammoth wave is coming and Boone and his pals are eager to ride it.

The Gentlemen's Hour is the sequel to The Dawn Patrol and it was just as good. If I could write I would want to be compared to Don Winslow.

Being realistic it is probably my last book for the month. I leave for Bouchercon early Saturday morning so that I can stop and see my daughter and her family in Reston for a couple of days before heading off to Raleigh. I haven't done my laundry, or packed, or got things squared away here...

Have a good trip! I hate how laundry time digs into reading time! :)

>75 mysterymax: I enjoyed Police at the Funeral, and I recently picked up Mystery Mile. I really loved Peter Davison as Campion in the BBC series.

>94 -Eva-: Well, after one and a half loads of laundry our well ran out of water! Fortunately it began seriously raining a few hours later. Thank goodness for the ocassional tropical storm. This was only the second time it has gone dry since we bought the house 14 years ago.

Finally got on the road, made it from Vermont to Reston Va on one tank of gas... cost $34.21. Love my Mini!

Having fun with my two grandkids, leaving here for Raleigh/Durham on Tuesday to see my other daughter before the SinC Writing Workshop starts on Wednesday.

First book of the month wasn't a spy book, but I just had to read it asap... When Somebody Kills You by Robert Randisi is the new book in the Rat Pack series. This time Eddie G. and his friend Jerry have two problems to deal with. Frank Sinatra has asked Eddie to help Judy Garland with a problem and Jerry comes to help Eddie when he learns there is a "hit" out on Eddie.

>96 mysterymax: - So happy to hear he's still writing the Rat Pack series. I'm about halfway through and was afraid that there wouldn't be anymore.

By the time I got to Bouchercon I was sick... maybe the stopover to see grandkids? I didn't read a single page while there as I was so tired at night. Got home to find out I have pneumonia - again. Hopefully we have caught it early enough that I won't be sick for over two months. Still not doing much reading as although I have tried to be really careful to keep my hands clean I must have rubbed my eyes and one of them is now infected and is constantly running so it is hard to see to read.

In spite of that I managed to finish one of my ER books, Corridors of the Night by Anne Perry. I love the Monk series and this was no exception.

Since Bouchercon coincided with my own birthday and my LT birthday I treated myself to some new books - 19 old paperback mystery/pulp fiction books. Another Rex Stout, a couple of Ellory Queens, some Richard Stark, some Bart Spicer, a couple of Freeman Crofts and some other odds and ends.

Catching up on threads I was terribly sad to hear that Lori had lost her brother... my deepest sympathy, Lori. I am glad those kittens are helping to keep up your spirits.

Have also realized that my "Immediate" to be read shelf is now so big I have to carefully avoid any more Book Bullets. I am soooo far behind in my reading.

>98 mysterymax:

Happy Birthday and Thingaversary! It sounds like a great haul of books! I too, love the old Classic covers of pulp fiction and have been known to pick up a few titles for the cover art alone! In addition to the old mystery covers, I also love the old Sci-Fi covers; and, yes, even the Fabio covers of the '80s bodice-rippers! There's something about those old school covers that made them as much a part of the reading experience as the words themselves - something somehow lost with digital art, and the nearly abstracted forms that seem to be the rage now (e.g. 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette?' (By Maria Semple).)

I completely sympathize with your getting sick after traveling. I went to MI for an event, and I think I made myself vulnerable to a virus with the time zone changes, poor sleep, and the demands of the event itself. When I got home, I was down for three weeks and I didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping! I hope you're feeling better and that your downtime isn't as long as mine was!

Happy belated birthday & Thingaversay! Hope you recover quickly from the pneumonia - fingers crossed for you.

Oh my, a birthday and a Thingaversary! Happy returns of the day and I hope you are feeling better soon.

I was wondering where you were. Happy birthday and happy Thingaversary. And hope you feel better soon.

Happy birthday, thingaversary and get well soon wishes for you!

Get well soon!!

Bouchercon-how fun! I need to go to another one soon. Isn't next year's in Toronto with Louise Penny as the guest of honor? Glad you were able to enjoy it even though you were sick. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes! >105 LittleTaiko: The one in Toronto is the year after next. Next year it is in New Orleans.

>99 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Totally agree that the covers are great. I'd love to have some blown up and hung as posters, but I can imagine the reaction of a few of my friends, to whom my addiction to pulp fiction is a secret...

>106 mysterymax: - Even better as that is closer to home. I think Harlan Coben is the guest of honor for that one. He is one of my favorites too!

>107 LittleTaiko: Agreed! I'm hoping it will also offer me a chance to visit with a really good friend living in Guelph.

That's a great haul of books. Hope they make you feel better soon :)

:) :) :) :)) - double chin, lol. They are. I get smiles just looking at the covers, can hardly wait to read them.

Since this month's theme was spies, I figured I had better read one. It turns out that The Silent Man by Alex Berenson wasn't really a 'spy' book, even though he works for the CIA, it was more a 'thriller'. Our hero, John Wells, returns for the third time, again needing to save the world.

The book seemed very 'lack-luster' to me. Maybe it is because I am sick, or maybe I have read too many so called thrillers, but I wasn't thrilled. It seemed very 'formula' and I found myself putting it down to watch a better spy story - The Time In Between - Spanish (sub-titles) (Netflix) about a woman who becomes a British spy. It was really well done,

I may force myself to go upstairs and get a couple of Appleton Porter books to re-read. There's a spy I love.

Just realized I never did a Sept review, so here it is, better late than never:

September in Review

Books Read: 14
Reviews Written: 0
Off My Shelves: 9
New Authors: 3
Books to Date: 117

Book That Left Me Breathless: A Rage in Harlem
Mystery I Enjoyed the Most: While Drowning in the Desert
Biggest Disappointment: Postern of Fate
Honorable Mention:

RandomCAT reads:
SFFF Cat: The Clockwork Scarab and The Spiritglass Charade
AlphaKit:

>111 mysterymax: - My husband started to read this series. I think he's read the first couple. Can't say that he had much to say one way or the other. Over the years I've kind of strayed away from the espionage/thriller books so it's not likely I'll try these.

>112 mysterymax: I read the first two as well and kind of felt like, after reading the third that they were all pretty much alike. I don't mean to be unkind to the writer... there are soooo many books it must be nearly impossible to come up with a unique one, esp in a genre like that.

>111 mysterymax: Interesting to hear that you're liking "The Time in Between." I read the book a few years ago and didn't like it very much...it took FOREVER to get to the spy stuff! But maybe the TV show is different enough that I'd enjoy it.

>115 christina_reads: Hmmm. Is the book a translation or was it in Spanish? I have very elementary, very old Spanish but was completely reliant on the subtitles.

>116 mysterymax: The book was written in Spanish, but I read the English translation. I only know like 3 words in Spanish!

Well, the film has her doing some light reporting of her German customers even while she is in Morocco, that is why they ask her to go to Madrid, where she continues to send back even more info and then she gets sent to Portugal at the end and she has to escape. I really enjoyed it. Wasn't a 007 shoot-it-out but a good film, I thought. Am wondering how different it was from the book.

>118 mysterymax: To the best of my recollection (it's been a few years since I read it), most of the novel takes place in Morocco. She doesn't go back to Spain until almost the end. So for me, the plot was a big slog until then! Here's what I had to say about it at the time: http://christina-reads.livejournal.com/194282.html

So maybe I won't read it. I did enjoy the film though.

>92 mysterymax: Thanks, took a BB on Don Winslow. The local library has lots of his titles to choose from.

How wonderful. the two best detectives in Botswana (Kubu and Precious) appeared on my doorstep today. I've got to finish my Lew Archer tonight.

Just found out that the 2019 Bouchercon will be here in Dallas! So excited about that. If in four years (long time away!) you decide to attend that one I'd love to meet you. Pretty sure I'll be there!

That would be fun. Don't know yet if we'll make it, but hopefully so.

Again, not a spy book. The Instant Enemy by Ross Macdonald was one of the books I picked up at Bouchercon. Lew Archer sets out to bring home a runaway teenager and before he calls the case closed there are three dead bodies and two murders from over a decade before, a kidnapping and an attempted suicide.

Valentino Pier by Reed Farrel Coleman was an enjoyable novella. His character in the 'Rapid Reads' series is PI Gulliver Dowd. Dowd is a great character - I don't want to give anything away, so I won't explain that - here he is asked by a young boy about ten years old to find his dog. The dog is named Ugly, because he is. Dowd finds the dog, the boy gets attacked, Dowd and his friend solve the case. It's everything you could ask for in a short, rapid read.

>125 mysterymax: *adds copy of The Instant Enemy to the on-deck pile*

I forget, did you see that the Coen brothers were planning to make a movie version of Ross Macdonald's Black Money?

Didn't. Thanks for the heads-up. Any idea of possible release time or actor? They are also making a tv series about Quarry - Max Allan Collins character (rather one of them).

>127 rabbitprincess: You might want to keep a chart of the characters as they have a lot of connections to each other and some are not what they appear!

Forgot to add Manhattan Mayhem to the list. As with any collection of stories there are some that really appeal and some that don't. The best part of the book is its physical presentation with maps that cover each neighborhood.

A Death in the Family by Michael Stanley was a joy to read. It wasn't the happiest Kubu story, as his father, whom he loves very much, is murdered. Taken off the case he is very frustrated, but is assigned to another case. He also takes a trip to New York City which was enough in itself to make the whole read great. The book is also a glimpse of the changes that are happening in the wonderful country of Botswana.

October in Review Between travel and being sick I was so tired that when I picked up a book I read two words and fell asleep.

Books Read: 7
Reviews Written: 2
Off My Shelves: 7
New Authors: 1
Books to Date: 124

Book That Left Me Breathless: Corridors of the Night
Mystery I Enjoyed the Most: A Death in the Family
Biggest Disappointment: The Silent Man
Honorable Mention:

A Death in the Family by Michael Stanley was a joy to read.

Now, that is the perfect eye-catcher opening statement! I have never heard of the Detective Kabu Mysteries. Must see if the local library has this series.

Lori, the touchstone has a misprint and I don't know how to fix it - he is Kubu, not Kabu, Kubu is Tswana for hippopotamus, (which he sort of resembles)..

Ah. I don't know how to fix it either. Good news is that my local library does have a number of the Detective Kubu books.

I so hope you enjoy them. I actually think they are such a wonderful balance to the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series and they have on occasion referred to Precious. (In a nice way)

I may have to check those out. I do like the Detective Agency series.

I was prepared to like The Devil's Share far more than I did. The thought of a female thief was enough to get me interested and then it was highly recommended by someone.

I might give another Crissa Stone novel a go, but I had to stick with this one for awhile before I could get into it. I remember someone saying once that the villian should be smarter than your hero; the bad guys here aren't necessarily smarter but they are far more ruthless. I found it hard to believe that Crissa could not have planned for what happened, or at least been mentally prepared. I also found it hard to believe that she would take on a for-hire job and not be in charge, or know, each of her crew herself. That's putting trust at the point of naivete. Hard to believe if she is as good as she is supposed to be.

It seems as if, these days, to be a 'strong female' just means that you have to take a physical beating and come out of it alive. Brains and common sense don't seem to be necessary. It's turning into a pet peeve and making it harder and harder for me to find female characters that I really like.

Mean Streets was enjoyable because of the Harry Dresden story. The others didn't do so much for me.

That looks like an interesting collection - I do like urban fantasy. BB for me.

One of the few cozy mystery series that I truly enjoy is the Book Collector series by Victoria Abbott. The Marsh Madness is the latest. This one features the acquiring of a collection of Ngaio Marsh first editions. There's a murder and Jordan, Vera and Kev are framed for the deed.

>140 mysterymax: Yay! New Book Collector! I saw it at Chapters today but have to consult my friend to see if she is planning to get it for me for Christmas or if I should buy it for myself ;)

>141 rabbitprincess: It's a good idea to check. I bought my daughter the new illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone not realizing that she went and ordered Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from Amazon UK. (The second title shows the new cover.)

Six and a Half Deadly Sins is the latest in the Dr. Siri series set in Laos. It would have fit in very well with next year's GEOcat, but I didn't want to wait that long to read it. I've enjoyed the series, but this one somehow feels like the last one.

I didn't know another one was out. Something to look forward to!

The Novel Habits of Happiness is one of the Isabel Dalhousie series. Isabel's mind rambles and gets sidetracked a lot. It's a charming series, but not one if you need your action in a hurry.

>145 mysterymax: - I've read a couple in that series and although I like her ruminations, you're right that there's not a lot of action. More of just moral/ethical dilemmas.

Dickey Chapelle Under Fire was my ER book. It arrived super quickly and was "read" in under an hour. That is because it is mostly a collection of her war photos in black and white. I had expected more of a biography when I requested it. There is some biographical information in it, but just the bare essentials. Dickey was the first female war correspondent killed in action. I remember many of her Vietnam War photos that were in Natl Geographic at the time.

Finally a female kick-butt character that isn't as dim as a two-watt light bulb. Charlie Fox has a new fan. She is a body guard which is an interesting new twist. It was a don't put down book. She is hired to protect a woman and her daughter. The read was Second Shot by Zoe Sharp.

Murdered Sleep by R. A. Harold is the second Dade Wyatt mystery. The first one I read was Heron Island and it was so good I had to find a copy to buy. Both of them are quite well done historical mysteries set in the early years of the 1900s. Dade was once a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt, an actor and a Pinkerton agent. In this one he has returned to acting and is in Washington DC when a Congressman is killed and Wade is brought back into his role as an investigator. Harold is an excellent writer. She makes you care deeply for Wade. 'twas a good read.

The Boardwalk by Reed Farrel Coleman is the third Gulliver Dowd mystery...novella... written in the old pulp fiction way. Short sentences, etc. Quite enjoyable.

The Innocent by Taylor Stevens is another good read. Good strong female character, good female writer, lots of action.

Tricky Twenty-Two is another fun, funny Stephanie Plum episode. I don't know how Evanovich comes up with so many crazy ways to destroy a vehicle but the geese episode was great.

Signal : A Sam Dryden Novel by Patrick Lee is the second Sam Dryden book and it is almost a fast paced as Runner was, certainly it was as good a read. I hate it when the book gets entered with "A Novel" behind it. "A Sam Dryden Novel" isn't part of the real title and it bugs me that you have to include it to get the touchstone to come up. That notwithstanding, the book is a great action thriller.

I don't know why that happens, but I've had some where I needed to do that and some where I didn't. I just read Stiff and although it's not the first choice on the touchstones, I didn't have to make it Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. I've never really understood why "a novel" has to be added to a title anyway.

The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden is the third in the Julius Caesar series. It covers the campaigns in Gaul and England, so it is most battles. Mark Anthony makes his appearance in this one and at the end Caesar is marching on Rome, with Brutus and Mark Anthony at his side. Who would guess that this series is not going to end well for Julius!

>154 mysterymax: "Who would guess that this series is not going to end well for Julius!"

SPOILER ALERT, PLEASE! (LOL, Just kidding!) I really need to check out Conn Iggulden's series, this one and the one on Ghengis Khan. I love historical fiction, ancient history, and military history (though I hate number crunches or info dumps); and I've head nothing but good things about the writing. :-)

>155 Tanya-dogearedcopy: You're so funny. No info dumps in the books, thank goodness, just straight story. Lots of battles, but a real sense of the time. There is one bit of information I am hoping that the series tells, but hasn't yet - how the Tenth wound up in England for good. They have been and come back so far. I am going to be disappointed if I learn that they didn't come and stay (thus wrecking one of my favorite movies, The Last Legion...)

November in Review Finally a month with female protagonists that I could really like, how refreshing. They were: Charlie Fox (created by Zoe Sharp), Vanessa Michael Monroe (created by Taylor Stevens), Jordan Bingham (created by Victoria Abbott - even though she's in a cozy type, I like her) and last but not least Stephanie Plum (created by Janet Evanovich) was at her best in this latest read.

Books Read: 15
Reviews Written: 4
Off My Shelves: 15
New Authors: 4
Books to Date: 139

Book That Left Me Breathless: Signal by Patrick Lee
Mystery I Enjoyed the Most: Murdered Sleep by R.A. Harold (touchstone not working)
Biggest Disappointment: The Devil's Share
Honorable Mention: Field of Swords

Near Enemy byAdam Sternbergh was a great way to start my sci-fi month. A new author to me, Adam Sternergh is an excellent writer. His writing style grabbed, pulled me in and never let go. His character is Spademan, a hit man, in a Manhattan that has been decimated by a dirty bomb, who has to try to save the man he was supposed to kill. Love his terse, hard-boiled, straight to the point dialogue. Bad timing is described as "Frying pan. Fire. Etcetera."

Wow! 'Near Enemy' looks great! I see that it's the second in the series. I'm gonna go dnload the first! :-)

>158 mysterymax: & >159 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that series also. Especially after I saw in one review a quote from Lauren Buekes.

>158 mysterymax: Oh my, a book bullet so close to year's end!

Y'all are so welcome!

Ganymede by Cherie Priest is the 3rd in the Clockwork Century series. I really enjoyed it. Good Characters, fun plot full of dirigibles, zombies, a submarine and all that other good steampunk adventure stuff. Going on now to pick up Clementine before reading the 4th adventure Fiddlehead. The character introduced in Clementine is the same one as in Fiddlehead so it made more sense to read it after Ganymede than before it.

I am not at all clear how tags work. They must be for a whole series rather than an individual book as Clementine has 'zombies' as one of the tags and there isn't a single zombie in the entire book, even though their are some in the series.

That said Clementine is as good as all the other books in the Clockwork Century series. It is a series in which each book is an individual, sometimes having characters from the other book. It ranges across the whole of the country and builds a world where the Civil War has been going on for a long time. The series began in Seattle in Boneshaker and a complete and interesting alternative history is created that is carried throughout the series. A great read for those who like alternative history, adventure, steampunk...

Tags are so subjective that they can mean just about anything at all. Someone may have tagged the book #zombies because there were zombies somewhere in the series; or because it was in the zombie round of a reading tournament; or was in their bookshelf a long time before they picked it up... I ran into "Tag Trouble" at the beginning of the year when I was setting up the Steampunk category for the SFFF CAT. I trusted that the tags were accurate; but some of the titles that came up were definitely NOT Steampunk at all! So yeah, it's a gamble!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Ganymede and Clementine. I'd read Boneshaker and Dreadnought a few years ago and really liked them. I've had Ganymede on my shelf for a while and have been meaning to get to it. I took a bit of a detour to read Four and Twenty Blackbirds, the first in Priest's Eden Moore series. That was enjoyable too, but I think I like her steampunk novels more than her Southern Gothic work.

Well, at last after 20 years the American Civil War is drawing to a close in Fiddlehead! And this time there are zombies. Just started it but it looks to be just as much fun. Am anxious to find which of the old characters are in this one.

Well yes, I read Fiddlehead out of order but I had to find out what happened to Belle. So now I am on to the one I missed. Fiddlehead was great. Quite the page turner. Love this series.

Well yes, I read Fiddlehead out of order but I had to find out what happened to Belle. So now I am on to the one I missed. Fiddlehead was great. Quite the page turner. Love this series.

I have finished The Clockwork Century series. The Inexplicables was excellent. How I wish this series would continue.

I finished The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats by Mark Hodder. I wondered part way through it, if a person had not read the earlier books would they have a clue what was going on? I don't know, and to tell the truth, it doesn't bother me. As I said in my write up about the previous book, - it could be the end of the series - but on the other hand there are adventures yet to be had, and so I hope, hope, hope that Sir Richard Burton goes on (with all his friends). This is a deep and complex series, not just light-hearted fun. And I love it. (The art work on the covers is enough of a reason to read them!)

I want to add that I scored this series at 4.0 and The Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest at a 4.5 only because the Priest books are much more stand-alone that the Hodder series. In both series the world created is an amazing one. The characters are so well-done. The are both excellent. The Hodder books involve time travel, which the Priest books don't. I think the Hodder books require a bit more concentration.

I have to try to read one more book this year! The Chess Queen Enigma would be a terrible way to end an otherwise great reading month.

I gave it 2.5 stars, while I had given the first two books in the series both 3.5. This was one of those "ok, now I have you interested in the characters, I'll write one that doesn't get resolved at the end so that you will come back and get the next one" books. Yes, there is an adventure, but all is wasted as the problem wasn't real. The *spoiler* death of one character and the departure of another. This was like a chapter in the big book. Very unsatisfying. If the library doesn't have a copy yet, I will donate this one.

Not this book in particular, but it often seems that the 3rd book in a series is weak. I think that's been mentioned here on LT before.

Tis something I hadn't noticed, I will keep watch and see. Interesting.

Last read 0f 2015:
Weird Detectives edited by Paula Guran. Like all collections, some stories are better than others. Or some just appeal to you more. This collection centered on mysteries and detectives that dealt with some element of magic, fantasy, etc. I liked the ones by Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Bradley Denton the most.

December in Review The end of the year, Wow. Not a lot of 5 star books this year, but good overall.

Books Read: 8
Reviews Written: 1
Off My Shelves: 8
New Authors: 1
Books to Date: 147

Book That Left Me Breathless: Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
Mystery I Enjoyed the Most: Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh
Biggest Disappointment: The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason
Honorable Mention:

Glad to hear you had a good reading year and here's to an even better one in 2016!

2015 Year In Review

Total Books Read 147 (down 60)
Enjoyed the most:
Matterhorn *My pick for the best book of the year*
The Gates of Rome
The Art Forger
While Drowning in the Desert
Signal

JF/YA Books Read 18 (up 2)
Enjoyed the most:
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency
The Glass Sentence

Non-Fiction Books Read 13 (up 6)
Enjoyed the most:
Dead Wake
A Spy Among Friends
When Books Went to War
The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook

5 Star Books 6 (down 6)
Enjoyed the Most:
Stray Souls

Below 3 Stars 7 (up 2)
Worst:
I Came, I Saw, I Lost My Luggage

Most Enjoyed Hard-Boiled
Second Shot

Most Enjoyed Sci-fi/Steampunk
Stray Souls
The Glass God

Most Enjoyed Mystery Oldie
A Rage in Harlem

New Authors 57 (up 3)
A good year for reading new authors! Favorites are: Donald Winslow, Zoe Sharp, Taylor Stevens

Series present challenges
I completed The Clockwork Century series. I had read the first last year, and finished the other 5 this year. The new "Kubu" mystery from Michael Stanley was excellent. The weakest was probably the lastest in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series. Craig Johnson's books are so beyond excellent you almost don't think to mention them. Just take them for granted.

Special Highlights
Sometimes a book is just 'fun' Or it was just the 'right' book at the 'right' time.
I read two more of the Norbert Davis books featuring Doan (a hard-boiled detective0 and Carstairs (the Great Dane.) Loved them. Also enjoyed the new author, to me, Don Winslow. Another fun one was The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules.

Off my own shelves! 126

Reviews written 37 (down 7)

And so ends another LT year. Happy 2106 reading everyone.

Hey MM - Stopping in to wish you and Rich a Happy Christmas/Boxing Day. Nice review of your 2015 reading. I'm planning to organize mine and also do the meme that Lori posts maybe later today while I watch football.

>179 dudes22: I was wondering if she was going to do that again. It's so much fun. I'll go take a look.
A very wonderful New Year to both of you as well!

The photo of Rum-Soaked Nutella French Toast in the preview sold me on The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook - BB taken. Congrats on finishing the 2015, see you over in the 2016!