Doggie fantasy come true

Currently reading HONOR AMONG ENEMIES by David Weber. This is 6th in the Honor Harrington space opera series. Here's a description:

For Captain Honor Harrington, it's sometimes hard to know who the enemy really is. Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the scandal which drove her into exile, she's been offered a chance to reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But there's a catch. She must assume command of a ''squadron'' of jury-rigged armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of her service and somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce. That would be hard enough, but some of the ''pirates'' aren't exactly what they seem . . . and neither are some of her ''friends,'' For Honor has been carefully chosen for her mission—by two implacable and powerful enemies. The way they see it, either she stops the raiders or the raiders kill her . . . and either way, they win.

Published 1996, it has 556 pages. This is on my Kindle.

We have a Friends of the NRA thingy tomorrow and then of course Superbowl on Sunday. I'm not cheering for anyone; I really don't care. I will be watching the commercials and the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet channel.

It's supposed to get cold and possibly some snow this weekend.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Your toes have been warned

So yesterday I caved and read the next Estelle Ryan book. It wasn't as good as books three and four but still enjoyable. So my thinking was "just read what you want to read because the rules you're trying to follow are ones you've made up for yourself anyway." And "what if you got hit by a bus tomorrow, fergoodnesssakes, read what you want." So I did. A couple more days left in the month so I could watch some shows on Netflix or Amazon or I could keep reading because next month is shorter anyway. We'll see.  I have a couple of digital loans from the library. And there's always my TBR pile. Always.

 

It was colder this morning when I walked the boys. You could see your breath again. Supposed to snow in a couple days. Back to winter. Or "winter is coming". Again. (Game of Thrones reference). Nerd.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

You know you're having a bad day when ...

I was flipping channels last night after Agent Carter and came across All the President's Men on TMC. I loved that movie. That movie is what made me want to be a journalist as a profession when I was in high school and my first year of college. So I'm watching last night and an epiphany moment happened. It suddenly occurred to me that it wasn't the journalism part of their investigative reporting that intrigued me. It was the INVESTIGATIVE part. The following the clues and talking to people. Like how I like reading mysteries. It only took me 30 years to figure that out. I'm an idiot.

Has this been an extra long month or something? I've read a LOT of books in January but it doesn't seem like I'm not speed reading or anything in fact I had that mini-slump a little while ago where nothing satisfied my reading mood and I didn't read for three days or so. Nothing has really changed in my daily schedule.  I dunno; it's strange. I'm complaining but I shouldn't be complaining, ya know?

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster 

Buddies forever

It's amazing how, when you're a mood reader like I am, a book can be very right or very wrong at any given moment. Example. When I finished the last Estelle Ryan book it was so good that I really really wanted to jump right into the next one but I know I can't do that because 1) I'd be going through them too quickly and there'd be nothing to look forward to since there are only six books in the series and 2) they lose their magic if you binge because you start to see the flaws. Too much of a good thing is too much.  So I read book three of her series last month. Then, earlier this month when I was scrounging for something to read while I was in my mini-slump, I read the first few paragraphs of this current one and it was "meh". Not what my reading taste buds wanted at that time. It just didn't click at all. Now, I am reading book four, and I want to read it all the time, giving up sleep and really not wanting to work until I get it done. Then, of course, once again I'll have to say "no" to myself about moving right on into book five. It's a vicious circle.

Tonight I have Agent Carter to watch on TV. Woot.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

It must be Monday

I finished  DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN. Not bad for a debut. Two good historical mystery debut's this month. This one and MURDER AT THE BRIGHTWELL.

I'm currently reading THE FLINCK CONNECTION by Estelle Ryan. This is 4th of 6 in series featuring nonverbal communication expert, art insurance investigator, and high functioning autistic Doctor Genevieve Lenard. Here's a description:

A cryptic online message leads nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard to the body of a brutally murdered politician. Despite being ordered not to investigate, Genevieve and her team look into this vicious crime. More online messages follow, leading them down a path lined with corruption, a sadistic assassin, an oil scandal and one of the biggest heists in history--the still unsolved 1990 Boston museum art theft worth $500m. The deeper they delve, the more evidence they unearth of a conspiracy implicating someone close to them, someone they hold in high regard. With a deadline looming, Genevieve has to cope with past and present dangers, an attack on one of her team members and her own limitations if she is to expose the real threat and protect those in her inner circle.

Published 2014, it has 358 pages.  


Supposed to get to the 60s today. Finally, I think the last of the big ruts in our subdivision will be gone and I can walk the boys again without risking life and limb. Meanwhile, in the American east, where it matters the most of course, there is a big snow storm coming. And they're in full panic mode in the news and therefore the people are in panic mode. How strange, isn't it, to have a snow storm in January, eh.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Nothing. Doing nothing.

Currently reading DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN by Tessa Arlen. This is a debut historical mystery. Here's a description:

(Edwardian England) Lady Montfort has been planning her annual summer costume ball for months, and with scrupulous care. Pulling together the food, flowers and a thousand other details for one of the most significant social occasions of the year is her happily accepted responsibility. But when her husband’s degenerate nephew is found murdered, it's more than the ball that is ruined. In fact, Lady Montfort fears that the official police enquiry, driven by petty snobbery and class prejudice, is pointing towards her son as a potential suspect. Taking matters into her own hands, the rather over-imaginative countess enlists the help of her pragmatic housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson, to investigate the case, track down the women that vanished the night of the murder, and clear her son’s name. As the two women search for a runaway housemaid and a headstrong young woman, they unearth the hidden lives of Lady Montfort’s close friends, servants and family and discover the identity of a murderer hiding in plain sight.

Published in 2015, it has 320 pages. 

Steve comes home tonight from Vegas. I think the SHOT show wore him out by his reports.

Not much happening this weekend other than the usual cleaning, reading, napping.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Rough night; rough day

I did not sleep well last night. I hate that. Hopefully tonight will be better.

I re-read both CATCHING FIRE and MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. There is a reason why these books reign supreme in the YA dystopian world ... they're that good. Maybe this will get me out of my slump-ishness. We'll see.

The Edgar Awards were announced this week. These are presented by the Mystery Writers of America and are widely acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards in the genre. Usually the nominees that the committees select are rather obscure. This year there are some recognizable names; in fact all but one in the best novel category, a short story collaboration, and most in the best paperback category are familiar to me. How novel.

Though these awards don't mean much to me, I always look through the list to see what I've read. One. I've read one. MURDER AT THE BRIGHTWELL by Ashley Weaver which I enjoyed much more than I thought I would and will read her next one when it comes out. I have COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter as an ARC on my Kindle but I've held off reading it because I'm thinking it will be very similar to a previous book she did about women cops in the 1970s also. I have seen one of the nominated TV episode teleplays, Sherlock, one of my favorite shows ever. And that's it. That is it. Some awards in the genre acknowledge the sub-category of historical mysteries which, of course, is what I'm most interested in. Edgars as you can see here, don't. And most telling, the two books I've somewhat touched upon here are historical mysteries -- if you count the 70s as historical which, forty years on I suppose some could. Here are the nominees (the banquet when the winners are announced is held in April): 

Best Novel

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Wolf by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
The Final Silence by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown)
Coptown by Karin Slaughter (Penguin Randomhouse – Delacorte Press)

Best First Novel

Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (W.W. Norton)
Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
Bad Country by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)
Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh (Crown Publishers)
Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)

Best Paperback Original

The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (Penguin Randomhouse – Penguin Books)
Stay With Me by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Barkeep by William Lashner (Amazon Publishing – Thomas and Mercer)
The Day She Died by Catriona McPherson (Llewellyn Worldwide – Midnight Ink)
The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

Best Fact Crime

Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America
by Kevin Cook (W.W. Norton)
The Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Other Side: A Memoir by Lacy M. Johnson (Tin House Books)
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William Mann (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation
by Harold Schechter (Amazon Publishing – New Harvest)

Best Critical/Biographical

The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis
by Charles Brownson (McFarland & Company)
James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction
by Jim Mancall (McFarland)
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: Classic Film Noirby Robert Miklitsch (University of Illinois Press)
Judges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and Film
by Francis M. Nevins (Perfect Crime Books)
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe
by J.W. Ocker (W.W. Norton – Countryman Press)

Best Short Story

"The Snow Angel" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Doug Allyn (Dell Magazines)
"200 Feet" – Strand Magazine by John Floyd (The Strand)
"What Do You Do?" – Rogues by Gillian Flynn
(Penguin Randomhouse Publishing –Bantam Books)
"Red Eye" – Faceoff  by Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly (Simon & Schuster)
"Teddy" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Brian Tobin (Dell Magazines)

Best Juvenile

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
 (Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Nick and Tesla's Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder
and Steve Hockensmith  (Quirk Books)
Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Young Adult

 The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano (Penguin Young Readers Group – Kathy Dawson Books)
Fake ID by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children's Books - Amistad)
The Art of Secrets by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Prince of Venice Beach by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

TV Episode Teleplay

"The Empty Hearse" – Sherlock, Teleplay by Mark Gatiss (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece)
"Unfinished Business" – Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O'Connor (CBS)
"Episode 1" – Happy Valley, Teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
 "Dream Baby Dream" – The Killing, Teleplay by Sean Whitesell (Netflix)
"Episode 6" – The Game, Teleplay by Toby Whithouse (BBC America)

Robert L. Fish Memorial ( best first short story by an American author)

"Getaway Girl" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Zoë Z. Dean (Dell Magazines)

Mary Higgins Clark (suspense fiction)

A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur Books)
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
Summer of the Dead by Julia Keller (Minotaur Books)
The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)

Grand Master (recognition for important contributions to the mystery genre over time, as well as a significant output of consistently high quality)

Lois Duncan
James Ellroy

Raven Awards (outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing)

Ruth & Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder

Ellery Queen Award ( to honor writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery publishing industry)

Charles Ardai, Editor & Founder, Hard Case Crime

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster