Ten Years of Blogging

On February 25th, 2012, I wrote my first blog post. My goals for blogging were to keep track of what I was reading, review the books I read, and take part in reading challenges. At the time I never imagined all the additional benefits that would  come from blogging.

What do I like best about blogging?

• The community of book bloggers. It is wonderful to be able to learn from others who share my love for books and reading. 
• The process of writing down and organizing my thoughts about the books I read. 
• Reminders of authors I need to check out or get reacquainted with.
• Discovering new authors. I thought I knew a lot about older mystery novels (pre-1960's) before I started blogging, but there are always more authors to learn about. Plus the fact that more vintage mysteries and authors are being reprinted now than ever before, so they are more available than ever.

What is new in my blogging?

When I started blogging, I read mystery novels almost exclusively. I still love mysteries, and I give a high priority to vintage mysteries, but I now read a good number of books from other genres. More science fiction and fantasy (heavier on the science fiction). More contemporary general fiction and historical novels.

I joined the Classics Club in late 2018, and have been working on reading books from my Classics List. I am not reading in that area as much I had hoped, but I keep working at it. 

Another new joy in my blogging life is reading more short stories and sharing my thoughts about those on the blog. 

In closing I will feature a few books. All of these books have skulls or skeletons on the cover:

Ray Bradbury's One More for the Road is a book of short stories. Frankly, I bought this book for the cover (over 15 years ago). The stories in this book  are mostly from his later years, based on reviews I read. I will be checking them out later in the year.

Aaron Elkin's Skeleton Dance is the 10th book in the Gideon Oliver (forensic anthropologist) series. I have only read the first two book's in this series, although I have read several of Elkin's standalone novels and loved them. I have copies of many books in the series, mostly because I just love the skeletons on the covers.

The third book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard, is my husband's book, but I have always loved the cover illustration. I am thinking I may try reading this one, although it is far outside of my usual reading. It has a carnival setting, which could be fun.

Short Story Wednesday: Short Story Books from My Husband's Shelves

Today I feature three books of short stories that I plan to be reading from in the next few months. All of them are from my husband's shelves, and he has not read them yet either. 

Night and Fear: A Centenary Collection of Stories by Cornell Woolrich

This collection of 14 previously uncollected stories was published in 2004. The reviews at both Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus said these are not his best stories, but there were good reviews at Goodreads, so I am sure the stories will be worth my time. Edited and with an Introduction by Francis M. Nevins.

Killer, Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury

As noted in the subtitle, this book collects crime stories by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury wrote three crime novels in 1985, 1990, and 2002, but most of his short stories were in other genres. About half of the stories in this book are from the 1940s, and the others are from later decades. This book has a very nice cover and includes illustrations preceding some of the stories. 

There is an introduction by Jonathan R. Eller. At the end, there is an essay by Ray Bradbury that was intended to be an introduction to A Memory of Murder, a collection of crime stories published in 1984. This seems appropriate since a good number of stories that were in A Memory of Murder are in this book. 

Speculative Los Angeles

Edited by Denise Hamilton

Fourteen speculative short stories set in neighborhoods around Los Angeles. The stories are divided into four sections: "Changelings, Ghosts, and Parallel Worlds," "Steampunks, Alchemists, and Memory Artists," "A Tear in the Fabric of Reality" and "Cops and Robots in the Future Ruins of LA." Denise Hamilton was also the editor for Los Angeles Noir and Los Angeles Noir Volume 2: The Classics published by Akashic.

This is reportedly the first book in a new series of speculative fiction anthologies from Akashic Books.

Reading Summary for October 2021

This month I read seven books. Five of them were in the crime fiction genre, although some of those were more suspense than mystery, with the crime in the background. Most of those books were picked specifically for R.I.P. XVI. For that event, I also read a fantasy novel that borders on horror by Ray Bradbury. The last book I read this month was from my Classics Club list.

This month the communal driveway for our condominium has been torn up and inaccessible. The work started on September 20th and was supposed to be finished in no more than 4 weeks. This was what it looked like on October 22nd.

General Fiction

The Moviegoer (1961) by Walker Percy

This was my pick for the Classic Club spin, and I am glad I finally read a book by this author. It is set in the South, in New Orleans.  Binx Bolling is from a rich family, is a veteran of the Korean War, and has been set up as a stock broker by relatives. He likes going to movies, making money, and going out with his secretaries. He also has a lot of existential angst. Family members pressure him to pursue other careers and get more serious about life. This is one of the few books set in the South where I had some recognition of my own feelings and experiences. We were at a much lower socioeconomic level than the characters in this book, though. I was on the fence about this book until the ending, which I loved.

Fantasy / Horror

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) by Ray Bradbury

A traveling carnival brings evil to a small town in late October. See my review here.

Crime Fiction

The Thirteenth Tale (2006) by Diane Setterfield

If I had to pick a favorite book for this month, this would be it. It grabbed me emotionally and I enjoyed every page. See my review here.

A Little Local Murder (1976) by Robert Barnard

This is a light, humorous satire about the residents of an English village. The ending packs quite a punch. See my review here.

The Quickening (2020) by Rhiannon Ward

Rhiannon Ward is a pseudonym for Sarah Ward, who wrote four British police procedural mysteries previously. Three of those I read and liked a lot. This is a suspense novel with gothic elements, spooky and sort of creepy, not my usual type of reading. It is set in 1925 and highlights how many families lost sons and fathers to World War I. The main character is a female photographer who is documenting the contents of an estate that is in disrepair and being sold. There is an excellent subplot about a séance that took place back in 1896, and its continuing effects on the family, but I did not care for the overall emphasis on spiritualism. 

Skeleton Key (2000) by Jane Haddam

I read this book in October because the story is set at Halloween. It is the 16th book in the Gregor Demarkian series. This was a reread and it was a good choice from the series. See my review here.

Fête Fatale (1985) by Robert Barnard

This book has a lot in common with A Little Local Murder by the same author, which I also read this month. This story is set in a small English village, and many of the characters are quirky and somewhat unlikeable. But, unusual for Barnard's books, the story is narrated by a woman, the wife of the local veterinarian. She claims that the village is run by women and she is unsympathetic to the control they wield and how they use it. Some of the villagers are in a tizzy because a more orthodox vicar is being brought in to take the place of the previous incumbent of that position.

Currently Reading and More

This month I am reading novellas for Novellas in November. I have read four so far and enjoyed all of them.

Currently I am reading Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, a historical novella that starts in 1917 and follows events in a man's life through several decades. Set in Idaho and Washington, mostly.

We still don't have access to the driveway, at least for driving, although now we can walk on it. In this photo, taken yesterday, you can see that the pavers have been installed all the way to the street but entry is still blocked. 

This last photo, also taken yesterday, shows the driveway at our end of the drive. A lot of finishing still needs to be done. Click on the images for best viewing quality.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Ray Bradbury

Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are young boys, aged thirteen years old, and ready for some new experiences. Will is more cautious, Jim is willing to take chances. When a carnival arrives in town after midnight, they escape from their bedrooms and watch it being set up. They gradually see the evil in the carnival that can change people and transform them into unrecognizable versions of themselves. 

The carnival that threatens the town is Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show, and the main antagonist is Mr. Dark, or the Illustrated Man, who can control the freaks in the carnival via his tattoos. He works in league with the Dust Witch, and their goal is to gather more souls to power the carnival. And the carnival has an especially scary merry-go-round that can add or take away years from a person's life.

Will's dad, Mr. Charles Halloway, is a quiet and melancholic man. On this occasion he steps up and helps the boys and the town out of a very scary situation. 

My Thoughts...

The set up of the situation in the first half of this book did not hold my interest. It was too poetic and too drawn out. At the middle point as the situation turns from bad to worse and Mr. Halloway is alerted to the problem, I got more interested and the story finally pulled me in. However, I never did get fully immersed and sense the horror of the situation.

I liked the themes of childhood, aging, parenthood. Although books are not a big part of the story, scenes set at the library where Will's dad works are prominent in the story.

This is my husband's book and he loves it. The gorgeous, poetic descriptions work very well for him. He especially likes the small town setting in autumn.

What I learned from reading this: I should have started with another novel or a book of short stories from Bradbury's works. In a Reading Pathways article for Bradbury works, Something Wicked this Way Comes was the last book on the list due to its difficulty and complexity. The first book on the list was The Halloween Tree, a children's book by Bradbury, which I read and reviewed three years ago. It was also more on the poetic side but a lovely children's story. Many years ago I read Fahrenheit 451, but I have forgotten much about it and plan to reread it. 

Next year maybe I will try some of Bradbury's short stories, such as The October Country (suggested by Rick Robinson at Tip the Wink) or The Martian Chronicles.

Another good read for R.I.P. XVI (Readers Imbibing Peril).

 -----------------------------

Publisher:  William Morrow, 2001. Orig. pub. 1962.
Length:     289 pages
Format:     Hardcover
Setting:     Illinois
Genre:      Fantasy / Horror
Source:     Borrowed from my husband.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril -- R.I.P. XVI

This year I will be participating in R.I.P. XVI, the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event. This event was originally hosted by Carl V. Anderson at the Stainless Steel Droppings blog. Since then it has been taken over by other bloggers and lately has been primarily on Instagram and Twitter. You can use #RIPXVI or tag @PERILREADERS to connect with other participants.

This is Carl's description from one of the R.I.P. announcement posts:

The purpose of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril ... is to enjoy books and movies/television that could be classified (by you) as:

• Mystery.
• Suspense.
• Thriller.
• Dark Fantasy.
• Gothic.
• Horror.
• Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

I have already read several books and a short story this month that fit those categories. 

This is one book I will be reading...

And I will read some short stories from this book as Halloween nears...

Reading Summary, October 2018

I read eleven books this month. One book was a re-read. One book was a fantasy, the rest were crime fiction. About half the books I read were vintage mysteries. I started one new (to me) series, and continued a few more recent series that I am glad I returned to.

FANTASY FICTION

The Halloween Tree (1972) by Ray Bradbury

This book is described as being both as fantasy and horror fiction. I would  categorize it more as spooky, not so much horror. I was initially attracted to this book because of it cover. It is a  charming children's book that I can see myself re-reading every Halloween. My thoughts are here.

CRIME FICTION reads in October:

Behind That Curtain (1928) by Earl Derr Biggers

My first book in October was a return to the Charlie Chan series. Although there were many Charlie Chan movies released in the 1930's and 40's, there were only six novels in the series. This one is set in San Francisco, and Charlie meets a retired Inspector from Scotland Yard, Sir Frederic Bruce, who has come to the US to continue the investigation of a case he was never able to solve. My husband and I are both fans of this series.  

The Case of the Weird Sisters (1943) by Charlotte Armstrong

I picked up quite a few books by Armstrong at the 2017 Planned Parenthood book sale, but I had not read any of them. Colm Redmond's review at Clothes in Books motivated me to read this one. I remember Armstrong's books as being just a bit more creepy and weird than I like but this one was "pleasantly creepy" as described on the cover.

The Book of the Dead (1944) by Elizabeth Daly

I remember Elizabeth Daly as one of my favorite authors from the 1940's, but it had been a long time since I had read one of her books. I was glad to find that I still enjoy her writing. My review here.

The Mirror Crack'd (1962) by Agatha Christie

This is a Miss Marple mystery and I always enjoy a visit with that elderly sleuth. This time Miss Marple is really feeling her age, which made me sad. But her wits are just as sharp as ever and I liked the picture of the changing times in St. Mary's Mead, with a new housing development and more modern shops.

The Water Rat of Wanchai (2011) by Ian Hamilton

This is the most current book that I read this month. Ava Lee is a forensic accountant who works for a family friend, Mr. Chow, who she calls Uncle. Ava is Chinese-Canadian, living in Toronto, but Uncle is based in Hong Kong. Together they track down large sums of money for their clients. I found this story to be a bit over the top but it engaged me so much I will be coming back for more. A book by a Canadian author with a setting initially in Toronto, but later the action moves to many other parts of the world. 

And Be a Villain (1948) by Rex Stout

This book, the 13th in the Nero Wolfe series, is the first in a trilogy that features Wolfe's archnemesis, Arnold Zeck. This is a re-read for me, of course. In this case, the characters are a radio talk show host, Madeline Fraser, and her entourage. A guest on the show dies from poisoning, and Wolfe investigates. An enjoyable read, as always.

His Burial Too (1973) by Catherine Aird

This is the fifth installment in the Inspector C.D. Sloan book series by Catherine Aird. The novels are set in the fictional County of Calleshire, England, and also feature Sloan's assistant, Detective Constable Crosby. Although Sloan usually tries to avoid working with Crosby because he is generally inept. There is always an element of humor in the stories, although it is not prominent. I must mention here that this is a locked room mystery, since I forgot to say that in my review.

A Colder Kind of Death (1994) by Gail Bowen

The fourth mystery in the Joanne Kilbourn series. This book won the Arthur Ellis award for Best Novel in 1995. At this point in the series, Joanne is a widow, with older children, but now raising an adopted child, the daughter of a close friend who died. She is an educator who is deeply involved in politics. In this book, the man who killed her husband a few years earlier has been shot and killed while in prison, and the fallout from that event reveals secrets and surprises for Joanne. Another book by a Canadian author, set in Saskatchewan.

The Shortest Day (1995) by Jane Langton

The 11th book in the Homer Kelly series. This story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Homer and Mary Kelly are teaching a class at Harvard University. Mary is participating in the annual Christmas Revels when a young singer in the event dies in an automobile accident. When other deaths follow, Homer resists getting involved, even though he was once a homicide detective. This book centers around the production of the Revels and an activist group seeking housing for the homeless; the author illustrated the story with her own pen and ink drawings. 

Blood and Rubles (1996) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

The Inspector Rostnikov series began in 1981 when Russia was still part of the USSR; the 16th and  last book in the series was published in 2009. I am now at book 10 in the series. The protagonist is Moscow detective, Chief Inspector, Porfiry Rostnikov. Per the book cover: "Crime in post-communist Russia has only gotten worse: rubles are scarce; blood, plentiful. In the eyes of Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov and his metropolitan police team, newfound democracy has unleashed the desperation that pushes people over the edge, and has emboldened those already on the path to hell. ...A trio of nasty cases confirms their worst fears."

The Halloween Tree: Ray Bradbury

I was alerted to this book by Scott Parker at Do Some Damage. And if you know how much I love skulls (and skeletons) on book covers, you will understand what drew my attention. The illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon on the dust jacket is just gorgeous. I was familiar with the Dillons as illustrators of children's books, but I was amazed to see how many adult books had cover illustrations by the couple. The interior illustrations are by Joseph Mugnaini, who was also responsible for the cover illustration of the first edition of this book.

The book has an unusual history. Bradbury wrote a script for MGM at the request of Chuck Jones, for a planned animated film. The film was not produced so Bradbury wrote a novelization of the script and published it in 1972. Then, in the early 1990's, an animated film based on the book was released  by Hanna-Barbera. And up until ten days ago, I had never heard of the book or the film.

Eight boys go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, but their friend Pipkin is not feeling well enough to join them. He promises to meet them at a haunted house where they instead encounter an odd man, Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. And a huge tree filled with pumpkins. The story is a combination of two quests:  a journey through several countries to see different versions of the Halloween story and to find Pipkin, who keeps eluding them. I especially like that the last country visited is Mexico and El Dia de Los Muertos. Before that they visit mummies in Egypt, Rome, Greece, medieval Britain, and gargoyles at Notre Dame in Paris.

I am sure that I am not the first person to wish that this book had included some girls. But that is a minor complaint; I suppose it was a product of its times? Although, in 1972 I was just out of college and planning to have a career, and even then I would have wanted some girls in the book. The adaptation decreased the number of children to three boys and a girl. But I have never seen the film.

The writing in this book is often like poetry and the story would make a great read-aloud for adults and children. This is not a perfect book, but it is a lovely way to celebrate Halloween.


-----------------------------

Publisher:   Alfred A. Knopf, 2007 (orig. publ. 1972)
Length:       145 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Genre:        Fantasy
Source:       I purchased this book.

Mysteries in October and Pick of the Month

I cannot believe that October is nearly over and Halloween is here (although by the time you read this it will probably be past). There are only two more months in the year. I like the cooler months better (although it can be very hot here in October and even into November). So the end of the year is a favorite time of year. I was very happy with my reading this month. Everything I read was crime fiction.

Two of the books I read this month were vintage mysteries published in the year 1932. Rich at Past Offenses gathered links to reviews of books published in that year HERE.


I participated in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX event, hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings during September and October. That event celebrates reading books of mystery and suspense and viewing films (or TV) in the same area. None of my reading this month was particularly spooky or scary, but The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill did have elements of the supernatural. 


These are the books I read in October:

Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

The Saint vs. Scotland Yard by Leslie Charteris

Keeper of the Keys by Earl Derr Biggers
Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury
Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin
The German Agent by J. Sydney Jones
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. You can go HERE to see more summary posts for the month and choices for favorite crime fiction reads.

This month, I don't know that I can narrow it down to one novel as my favorite this month. I hope to read more books by all of these authors, and each book had its high points. If I was forced to choose, I would make it a tie between Keeper of the Keys by Biggers and Death is a Lonely Business by Bradbury.

Death is a Lonely Business: Ray Bradbury

In Venice, California, 1949, a struggling young author writes tales of fantasy and science fiction for the pulps. His girlfriend is away studying in Mexico, and he is alone and lonely. One night he takes a ride in a red trolley car to the Venice pier and eventually discovers a dead body. The writer is convinced by strange events around him that the death is murder and that the murderer has plans to continue, but has a hard time convincing anyone else, including the police. Eventually, he ends up pursuing the murderer with help from a police detective, Elmo Crumley, and Constance Rattigan, an older actress who had a brief moment of fame.

From the dust jacket copy:

In this, his first full-length work of fiction since Something Wicked This Way Comes was published more than twenty years ago, Ray Bradbury, master of the modern supernatural, works his magic in an entirely new way — giving us a novel that is at once a loving tribute to the hard-boiled detective genre of Hammett and Chandler and a gently nostalgic evocation of a time and place.

This book was published in 1985; I have had the book for eight years and finally got around to reading it. I was not sure how much I would like a mystery written by an author famous for his fantasy novels.  It is a mystery and there are clues, but it is also a very fantastical story, with bizarre happenings and strange characters. For me, it turned out well, but I gather from reviews that some readers have been disappointed. If they have read and loved his sci fi or fantasy books, it may not meet expectations. If they are primarily readers of mystery, the fantasy elements may be jarring.

There are so many things I liked about this book, and many of them had nothing to do with its being a mystery novel. The policeman that the protagonist drags into the hunt for the killer is an aspiring writer. The narrator has only sold a few stories, but he pushes Elmo Crumley into following his dream and actually writing a book instead of just dreaming about it. The unnamed narrator befriends many people in his neighborhood and they help each other out. Bradbury has created characters that I want to keep reading about.

The dedication for the book indicates his love for noir fiction:

With love to Don Congdon, who caused it to happen.
And to the memory of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Ross Macdonald.
And to my friends and teachers Leigh Brackett and Edmond Hamilton, sorely missed.

Of course, Bradbury writes beautifully. I loved the descriptions of fogbound Venice. Santa Barbara sometimes has similar weather.

    Venice, California, in the old days had much to recommend it to people who liked to be sad. It had fog almost every night and along the shore the moaning of the oil well machinery and the slap of dark water in the canals and the hiss of sand against the windows of your house when the wind came up and sang among the open places and along the empty walks.
    Those were the days when the Venice pier was falling apart and dying in the sea and you could find there the bones of a vast dinosaur, the rollercoaster, being covered by the shifting tides.

And later...

    For about 150 days a year in Venice, the sun doesn't show through the mist until noon.
    For some sixty days a year the sun doesn't come out of the fog until it's ready to go down in the west, around four or five o'clock.
    For some forty days it doesn't come out at all.
    The rest of the time, if you're lucky, the sun rises, as it does for the rest of Los Angeles and California, at five-thirty or six in the morning and stays all day.
    It's the forty- or sixty-day cycles that drip in the soul and make the riflemen clean their guns. Old ladies buy rat poison on the twelfth day of no sun. But on the thirteenth day, when they are about to arsenic their morning tea, the sun rises wondering what everyone is so upset about, and the old ladies feed the rats down by the canal, and lean back to their brandy.
    During the forty-day cycles, the foghorn lost somewhere out in the bay sounds over and over again, and never stops, until you feel the people in the local graveyard beginning to stir. 

Now, Santa Barbara has the same kind of weather, and this is what I love about the area I live in. I don’t miss the sun, and there are not enough foggy days for me. But I can understand the sentiments expressed here; that attitude toward gray days is prevalent with residents of Santa Barbara also.

I could endlessly quote from this novel… For me it was an enjoyable and compelling story; but I am not sure how much I would recommend it to others.

At www.raybradbury.com, there is a description of the book and a short excerpt from the beginning of the book that might help you decide if you would enjoy it.  But it gets much stranger than that at times.

Had I but known that the next book in this series is a Halloween mystery (A Graveyard for Lunatics, reviewed at Tipping My Fedora), I would have sped up my schedule and included it for the R.I.P. Challenge. Since I did not do that I will just point that fact out to readers. I would be willing to bet that you could enjoy that book without reading this one first. However, I am usually a stickler for reading in order, and there is always the possibility that reading book 2 first will spoil the first one. There was also a third book in the series, Let’s All Kill Constance, published in 2003. I will be reading the two other books in the series eventually.

Also see Sergio's review of this book at Tipping My Fedora.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Alfred A. Knopf, 1985 
Length:       277 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Elmo Crumley
Setting:       Venice, California
Genre:        Mystery
Source:       I purchased my copy.