Mailbox Monday-- Better Out Than In

Last week I sent six books to new foster homes via Paperback Swap, and I received four from various sources. Here's the rundown:

--Death Mountain by Sherry Shahan (from author). "A day trip to a mountain lake turns to disaster when lightning strikes a pack mule, a mud slide kills a horse, and hikers scatter, seeking shelter. Erin, 14, leaves her new friend Levi with the injured hikers to search for his sister, Mae, who has gotten lost in the confusion. The threesome had only become acquainted that morning when Levi and Mae picked Erin up hitchhiking on their way to Chicken Spring Lake. Independent and unusually outdoor savvy, she was supposed to have been taking a bus to visit her estranged mother but lost the ticket in a restroom. Nonplussed by the dilemma, Erin goes along on the side trip before heading back home. This self-sufficient attitude serves her well in the wilds of the Sierra Nevadas where she employs survival techniques learned from her nature-loving grandmother."

--Fire and Ice by J.A. Jance (PBS). This book combines both Jance's series. "In Seattle, Beaumont looks into the burned bodies of six unidentified women. In Arizona, Brady handles the murder of an ATV park caretaker. Beaumont and Brady pool their information when a murdered woman links back to the missing sister of Jaime Carbajal, one of Brady's detectives. While Brady stays in Arizona, Carbajal's arrival in Washington sets off a chain of events with fatal consequences."

--The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Amazon Vine). "When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind."

--Box 21 by Roslund and Hellstrom (Amazon Vine). "Three years ago, Lydia and Alena were two hopeful girls from Lithuania. Now they are sex slaves, lured to Sweden with the promise of better jobs and then trapped in a Stockholm brothel, forced to repay their “debt.” Suddenly they are given an unexpected chance at freedom, and with it the opportunity to take revenge on their enslavers and reclaim the lives and dignity they once had. What will happen now that the tables are turned and the victims fight back?"

That's my haul from last week. Stop by next Monday to see if I'm still sending out more books than I'm receiving!

A big Thank You to Marcia of The Printed Page for hosting this meme. If you'd like to see what books other bloggers received in their mailboxes last week, click on the redhead in the flirty skirt at the top of this post!

My World...According to the Books I've Read

I'd seen this going around the blogosphere and found it amusing, although I had no desire to do it myself. I didn't... until I started reading posts in my Google reader yesterday and discovered that some fellow crime fiction readers had put their own spin on it.

Originally you were supposed to answer the following questions using the titles of books you've read so far this year. Dorte, Bernadette, Maxine and Crimeficreader have all done this using the titles of crime fiction books they've read this year. How could I not try this, too?

Here goes nothin'!

Describe Yourself: The Girl Who Played With Fire

How do you feel? Three Bags Full

Describe where you currently live: In a Dark House

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Moonlight Downs

Your favorite form of transport: The Dark Horse

Your best friend is The Harper's Quine

You and your friends are Among the Mad

What's the weather like? The Cruellest Month

Favorite time of day: When the Devil Holds the Candle

If your life was a Disco For the Departed

What is life to you? Damage Control

Your fear: And Justice There Is None

What is the best advice you have to give? Retirement Homes Are Murder

Thought for the day: Organize Your Corpses

How you would like to die: In the Woods

Your soul's present condition: A Quiet Belief in Angels

Poll Results Are In!

This time I asked what was the most memorable about your favorite books. I want to thank all 109 of you who took the time to vote-- I really appreciate it!

Some of the possible answers didn't fire anyone's imaginations, and I don't blame them, but I'd like to concentrate on the answers which did receive votes.

--One person voted that the most memorable thing about his/her favorite book(s) was the first line. One thing I loved to do (pre-computer) was have First Line Contests with a fellow reader. They were so much fun! The right first line can set the proper tone for an entire book. One of my personal favorites, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens has-- in my personal opinion-- the best first and last line of any book ever written.

--20 people (18%) said that the most memorable thing about their favorite book(s) was the main character. I have a feeling that Stieg Larsson's Lizbeth Salander will join the ranks of my all-time favorite fictional characters. Characters can make or break a book, and they can even haunt you throughout the years.

--22 people (20%) voted for the story being the most memorable thing in their favorite book(s). The plot can indeed be a haunting factor in how a book is remembered.

--27 people (24%) said that it was impossible for them to choose just one thing about their favorite books. I can certainly understand that. Sometimes the whole package is what sweeps you off your feet!

--39 people (35%) said that the most memorable thing about their favorite book(s) was the way the book(s) made them feel. I have to admit that this is how I voted. Whether a book completely turns my thinking upside down, whether it's so funny that the people who walk past me think I should be locked away, whether I'm washed away on a sea of tears...it is emotion that I remember most about my favorite books. I surprised myself with my answer, since I am a self-proclaimed character-driven reader!

What do you think of the poll results?

Weekly Link Round-Up

Bookish News & Other Bits and Pieces

• An Antiques Roadshow for books?
• A Book Lover's Guide to IKEA Seating
• Put your book title to the test with the Lulu Titlescorer.
• How a book gets published.
• Take a look at this map of banned and challenged book locations in the US.
• Clive Thompson on the New Literacy.

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

• Censorship: Do you practice it?
• A Secret Blogging Alliance?
• What Themes Draw You In?
• A Mentoring Idea
• But What If You Die??
  

Techie and Social Media Goodies

• How to backup and restore your blog if you use Blogger.
• Gadgets for Blogger.
• Free Twitter logos and buttons.

New-to-Me Blogs on my Radar

• Metroreader: Reading One Mile At a Time
• Book Dragon's Lair
• Letters From a Hill Farm
• Bride of the Book God
• A Book Blogger's Diary

That's it for this week, folks. Come back next Sunday when I'll have another batch of links fresh out of the ove....microwave!

Bookself #2-- Wrap-Up

I was really pleased to see how many of you were willing to share your impressions of me based on looking at the contents of one of my bookshelves. Thank you!

One thing that I do want to make abundantly clear: this is all "pretend", so for these Bookself posts it's quite all right to be sitting here talking with me and then jump up and start taking books off shelves. Besides-- you wouldn't be acting any differently than the friends who actually come to my house!

For starters, I'll show the shelf in question again to refresh everyone's memory:







Someone wondered what those spiral bound books were at the far left. Those are all out-dated books of city maps for places like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. I haven't gotten rid of them because I make envelopes with outdated maps.

Also mentioned were the dictionaries of mythology, saints and Latin. I've done a lot of reading both non-fiction and historical fiction in the medieval period of Europe when the Catholic Church ruled the roost. Latin phrases, saints' names...I'm prepared! I've also read Homer, the Aeneid and other classics where it's a good idea to have all the myths, monsters and heroes straight. The Atlas of Human Anatomy was published in 1963, and I've had it about that long. Mom was a firm believer in "if the child is old enough to ask the question, the child is old enough for an answer." Learning that old song "The hand bone is connected to the arm bone" made me curious about how the human body was put together, and I wanted to learn the real names of the bones. This is the book Mom bought me to help answer all my questions. I've never seen the need to get rid of it.

My mother and grandmother did a lot of work on our family history, beginning when I was about ten. It's one of the main reasons why I love history so much-- many times I know where ancestors fit into the scheme of things. Unfortunately I never caught the bug to go on and do genealogical research on my own, but I have been slowly putting all their work on computer.

Several of you expressed interest in the books on words and language on that shelf. Yes, I certainly do enjoy those, and I thought I would shine a light on one that would interest any "foodies" among you: Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies: From Spare Ribs to Humble Pie-- A Lighthearted Look at How Foods Got Their Names by Martha Barnette. Nun's tummy ("barriga de freira") is a sweet egg pudding found in Portuguese cuisine. Who knew that the names of foods around the world could be such interesting reading?




Yes, I am very much interested in photography! Although Arizona is one of the most photogenic places in the world, you have to be careful. All those wonderful colors routinely look washed out in photographs due to the extremely bright Arizona sun. I've been learning about filters that will prevent this, hence the book The Photographer's Guide to Filters. A Dazzle of Dragonflies contains page after page of fantastic dragonfly photography, and since those wonderful creatures show up here regularly (and I know of some of their haunts out in the wild), this book is inspirational as I try for "that perfect shot".


Most of you pointed out that I seem to have a thing about Arizona. I do. Even if I won the Lottery and could have my house by the sea on the Isle of Skye, I'd still live part of the year here in the desert. I'm originally from a small farm town in central Illinois, lived in Utah for three years, and in 1976 I moved down here to the Sonoran Desert and began my love affair with a climate and a landscape. Denis and I both love traveling off the beaten path. That's the major reason why one of our vehicles is a Jeep that was modified for even higher ground clearance. Books like the four you see above have helped us choose areas to explore and to know what to look for once we get there. Guide to Arizona's Wilderness Areas, for example, reminds me of a Memorial Day trip that Denis and I took. We loaded up the cooler and drove to the Kofa Wilderness Refuge (named for the King of Arizona mine). We were in the refuge for over eight hours, drove almost 200 miles while we were within its boundaries, and never saw another human being the whole time. It was a wonderful day! Many such trips are on paved roads though, so if you like to have similar outings, check your favorite bookseller because the books I have are parts of series, so there may be specific books for your state.

One book that no one mentioned (probably because it's so small and difficult to see on the shelf) is A Field Guide to Desert Holes. Yes, Virginia, there is a book on hole identification!

Gertrude Stein could say, "A rose is a rose is a rose" and get away with it, but saying, "A hole is a hole is a hole" could get you killed out on the desert. Different holes for different fanged and non-fanged critters.

When I saw this book on a shelf at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, I had to get it because it reminded me of a morning spent out on the McDowell Mountain Preserve north of Scottsdale, Arizona. I had a friend along with me who was in desperate need of unwinding, so I thought a walk out in the desert would be just the ticket. Only thing is, I forgot that she was a City Girl. If I had a dollar for every time she froze at the sight of a hole in the sand, I'd be blogging from my own private island in Tahiti right now!

"Cathy, I know that's a snake hole!"

"Bev, it isn't a snake hole, but even if it were, it wouldn't make any difference. This time of day, all the snakes have gone underground so they won't fry in the sun!"

"I don't care! That's a snake hole!"

It was a very long two-mile walk out into the desert. And then the City Girl insisted that we were lost. (We weren't...because I'm not a City Girl.)

"Cathy, we're lost!"

"Bev, you're the one who thinks she's lost. We are not lost!"

"We're lost! I bet you can't find the way back to the car!"

"I'll bet you five dollars that I take us right back to the exact position of the car in the parking lot."

"You're on!"

What happened? File this one little tidbit away: if I ever bet real money on anything, do not bet against me! Now I have this book on hole identification, and when I'm walking out in the desert with another City Girl, I can say, "No, that's not a snake hole. That's the den of a burrowing owl."

You all did such a wonderful job with this Bookself! You really can learn something about people by taking a look at the books on their shelves. Come back next Saturday and try your luck with Bookself #3!

It's Time for... Friday Feud!

Here we go. Another week gone by at the speed of light. Summer is determined to race right on out of here.

It's Friday, and you know what that means: It's time for another edition of Friday Feud here at Kittling: Books. The rules are few and simple:

--Try your very best not to duplicate answers. If you have to, at least put your own distinctive stamp on your answer!

--All answers should be left here in the comments section of this post.

That's it for the rules. Let's get down to business and play the Feud!

This week's question:

Your first book is being published. What is its title?

Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering

Title: Outsider in Amsterdam
Author: Janwillem van de Wetering
ISBN: 1569470170, Soho Crime, 2003
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Grijpstra & de Gier mystery
Rating: B-

First Line: The Volkswagen was parked on the wide sidewalk of the Haarlemmer Houttuinen, opposite number 5, and it was parked the way it shouldn't be parked.

Piet Verboom is found hanging from a beam in his sixteenth-century gabled house on a quiet narrow street in Amsterdam. Verboom was the leader of something called the Hindist Society, and the house contains a shop, a bar and a restaurant. His staff were followers in the society and were paid nothing. Verboom was turning a tidy little profit and had quite the lifestyle for himself. Why would he throw a rope over a beam and hang himself? The two Dutch policemen assigned to the case, Adjutant Grijpstra and Sergeant de Gier, don't think he did. Fortunately a person renting space in the house, Jan Karel van Meteren, is very observant and very helpful. With van Meteren's aid, hopefully they will solve the case without putting too many miles on their Volkswagen:

"This road doesn't go to Aerdenhout," said Grijpstra.

"Ah yes. We'll take a turning to the left."

"There are no turnings on the left on this road."

"Then we'll turn around," de Gier said happily.

"You should watch where you're going."

"So should you."

They found the right road, they found Aerdenhout, but they didn't find the mental home. Eventually they found the police station and were shown the right way.

"If the civilians knew how silly their police are they would commit more crimes," Grijpstra said.

Originally published in 1975, Outsider in Amsterdam really didn't feel dated to me, although I do have to admit that my cell phone is seldom turned on which probably doesn't make me the best of judges. The pacing of the book seemed a bit ponderous, and it was difficult to pinpoint the reason. Van de Wetering lived in Maine for many years, so blaming a translator isn't feasible. Possibly the slowness could just be a case of an author thinking in one language and writing in another. Most readers can only dream of having a problem like this.

Whatever the cause, the slowness was only a minor annoyance because the author serves up a veritable feast: the city and culture of Amsterdam itself, two wonderful characters in Grijpstra and de Gier, and a likable villain. In this book, it's not so much a matter of "who" done it, but "how" he did it... and is he going to get away with it? Lately I've been reading of too many bad guys for whom I've only felt disgust. It was fun to read about one I came very close to admiring.

Outsider in Amsterdam is a good start to the adventures of Grijpstra and de Gier. I intend to follow the series to its end.

The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles, Edited by Jeff Martin

Title: The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles
Editor: Jeff Martin
ISBN: 9781933368900, Soft Skull Press, 2008
Genre: Humor
Rating: B-

First Line: "I am Sssshhhearssshh!"


I've been in retail more years than I care to remember, so I received this book from a fellow Paperback Swap member with a great deal of interest. How many essays in this book about retail experiences would strike a chord in me? The answer is: about a third.

Granted, retail is one of those occupations that can stretch credulity some days. Hospital emergency rooms, policemen, firemen and other emergency services pros don't own the monopoly on strange encounters of the human kind. Anyone who deals with the public knows the perils of full moons and the first of the month. Opportunities are ripe for looking at a co-worker and saying, "We should write a book." It's that very thing that editor Jeff Martin tries to cover with his selection of essays in The Customer Is Always Wrong, and the results are rather uneven.

The low point of the book for me was Anita Liberty's essay entitled "No Good Deed...." For the life of me I don't know if the piece was honestly supposed to be funny and completely missed the boat, or if there was a layer of irony and sarcasm woven through the lines and I'm the one left standing at the pier.

The high points of the book were the essays written by James Wagner ("Other Things in Mind") and Elaine Viets ("Minimum-Wage Drama"). For me, those two essays spoke the truth of my own experience. Wagner brings up the phrase "the customer is always right," correctly pointing out that this is

...a theory drummed up by an owner who didn't have to deal with the day-to-day public, who only had to take in their money and then spend it on cars, stocks, and vacations, the likes of which the people who did deal with the public would never see.

For anyone not familiar with Elaine Viets, she is the author of the Dead End Job mystery series. She's gone out and worked each of the jobs covered in her series, so she's been on more than one front line. Some of her observations are short and to the point: "The first rule of retail is that everyone wants to check out at once" and "Working retail is like going to the theater-- except you get paid to watch the show. Also, your feet hurt."

Although the choice of essays in the book is uneven, the book is more than worth reading for Wagner and Viets alone. If you've ever been on the other side of the counter, the book will have you reliving some of your own "glory days". If you've never worked on the other side of the counter, you should read this book. Unless you're totally self-absorbed, you'll learn a thing or two.

Working retail is often thankless, and you can be subject to tremendous mood swings. But in amongst the days that make you worry about your sanity are the ones that make you smile, make you laugh, and make you put on your comfy shoes and head in to another day with the Public. Because....Steinbeck rules! (Right, Elaine?)

Scene of the Blog-- Dar of Peeking Between the Pages

This week we're staying in Canada to visit with Dar of Peeking Between the Pages. Her excellent blog is filled with challenges, giveaways, book reviews...and photos of a handsome fellow named Buddy who likes to spend precious reading time with her. If you've never stopped by Dar's blog before, please take the time to do so. You'll be glad you did!

Where does Dar do all her blogging? In bed? In the kitchen? On the couch? Does she have an office? Would you like me to stop asking you and just show you already?

Okay. I can take a hint! Here's where Dar creates all those excellent blog posts. (Remember that all the photos are clickable so you can view them full size.)

Well, this is where I can be found every day of the week either blogging or working. I work from home so this is also my work space for that. I do have an office downstairs with a lovely desk but it's too dark down there for me. I like the sunshine and brightness so I moved me and all my assorted blogging and working mess to the dining room table.

Not very exciting and certainly not the neatest work area in the world but I'm comfortable. I've got a big picture window just across the living room giving me a nice view outside and let me tell you that many hours can pass me by while I'm busy blogging and commenting and all that good stuff on the blogs of all the great people I've met.

This is the view that I have while clacking on the keys all day. I thought it might be nice to show you this since my work space isn't too exciting. lol. That is Buddy's couch and usually he's perched right up there on the top of the sofa and I can be caught very often gazing out that window daydreaming instead of working. Thanks Cathy for having me here. I really enjoy Scene of the Blog and I'm honored to be the one featured today.

That's the problem sometimes with having a view. I find myself sitting here in my own space watching the birds in the bird bath rather than taking care of business. If I were in Dar's shoes with Buddy on the couch there, I'd be spending a lot of time talking to him. (Just call me Cathy DooLittle.)

Dar mentions not having the most exciting (or the neatest) blogging space in the world, but it's really not about that, is it? Having a blogging space is more about comfort-- the comfortable feeling that enables you to turn your mind loose and create. Dar has space where she can spread out a bit. She has the tools that she needs. The area is filled with light. She has a view. She has a faithful, loving companion close at hand. Sounds good to me. Doesn't it sound good to you? I thought so!

By the way...Dar, is that an apple tree outside your window? Something tells me I'm going to be heading down to the kitchen for a piece of fruit soon....

Thank you so much for letting us take a look at your space, Dar. We really appreciate being able to see where you create your wonderful blog!

Where will we be peeking next Wednesday? You'll just have to come back and find out. See you then!

Wordless Wednesday

An old coaching inn (now a book shop)
Clare, Suffolk, England

More Wordless Wednesday.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

Title: A Duty to the Dead
Author: Charles Todd
ISBN: 9780061904592, William Morrow, 2009
Genre: Historical mystery, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Bess Crawford
Rating: A

First Line: At sea...This morning the sun is lovely and warm.

It is 1916, and Bess Crawford is a nurse on board the hospital ship Britannic when it is torpedoed and sinks in the Mediterranean. She's sent back home to England to let her broken arm heal, and although it's wonderful spending time with her parents, she has a duty to perform. A duty to the dead.

Everyone was charmed by the young officer, Arthur Graham, and Bess sometimes wonders if she'd fallen in love with him. But no matter how hard they all tried, Arthur died of his wounds. Before he died, he made Bess promise to go to his home, Owlhurst, in Kent to deliver a message to his brother Jonathan. "Tell Jonathan that I lied. I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right."

Bess and her mother have followed Bess's father ("Colonel Sahib") around the world. Bess knows the meaning of duty, and she feels that she has to do this one last thing for Arthur. Traveling to Kent, she delivers her message to Jonathan Graham, but has the feeling that he's going to ignore Arthur's request. While at Owlhurst, she helps the local doctor with some cases and learns that there is an older Graham brother who was locked away in an asylum at the age of fourteen after murdering a maid. The longer Bess is there the more questions she has. Since no one else seems to take Arthur's last request seriously, she will-- come what may.

I wouldn't expect anything less than an excellent book from the mother-son writing team of Caroline and Charles Todd, and they deliver. Their Ian Rutledge mystery series is superb, and once again they turn to World War I as their background. Bess is strong-willed, independent, and has a very keen sense of right and wrong. Dangerous situations that would have most people fly into a complete dither have her wading in to see how she can help. Bess is used to thinking on her feet, and wherever she goes, she never forgets to pack her common sense. I'm going to enjoy keeping an eye on her in future books.

The plot of A Duty to the Dead moves along at a good pace, at times humorously. But it can also be heartbreaking as Bess faces the willful ignorance people display when confronted with veterans suffering from shell shock. The story, the historical detail and the characters are going to keep me a willing prisoner of this new series.

I also like the fact that the Todds have chosen a World War I nurse as their main character. I've been fascinated with this rare breed of woman ever since reading Lyn Macdonald's The Roses of No Man's Land, and they finally seem to be making a strong move into the world of fiction. If you're already a fan of fellow World War I nurses Maisie Dobbs and Jade del Cameron, you should definitely give Bess Crawford a try.

*Review copies provided by LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and Amazon Vine.

What's Your Gift?

Your Gift is Intellect

You are a big thinker, and you're always playing with new ideas. You are curious about the world. You enjoy learning and developing new theories. You enjoy researching, analyzing, and solving problems. Thinking hard feels good! You're the type of person who finds most mental tasks to be easy. You love to stretch your brain.

What's Your Gift?

Most mental tasks...except for those requiring advanced math skills!

Now... I know my readers are some of the most gifted in the entire blogosphere. What about you? What are your gifts?

Mailbox Monday-- Another Helping of Biscuits, Please

Several of you liked my lead-in line last week, but I don't want to overuse it. I decided to merely refer to it in my header.

Last week, I sent 8 books to new foster homes courtesy of Paperback Swap and received 2. Someone read my last Mailbox post and emailed me to ask about Paperback Swap. If any of you are curious about it, by all means contact me. I'll be more than happy to tell you all about it!

Here's the scoop on the two books I received in my mailbox last week:

--Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett (PBS), the second in the Booktown mystery series. "Tricia Miles, owner of the Haven’t Got a Clue bookstore, must solve her own mystery when a bestselling author is found dead in the washroom."

--A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory (from the publicist). In a previous Book Picks post I mentioned that I read about this book and it sounded like something I would very much like to read. The next thing I knew, Vida Engstrand of Overlook Press emailed me to ask if I'd like to have a copy to read and review. I think you all know what I said! "1939. In the small, rural community of Augusta Falls, Georgia, twelve-year-old Joseph Vaughan learns of the brutal assault and murder of a young girl, the first in a series of killings that will plague the community over the next decade. Joseph and his friends are determined to protect the town from the evil in their midst and they form "The Guardians" to watch over the community. But the murderer evades them and they watch helplessly as one child after another is taken. Even when the killings cease, a shadow of fear follows Joseph for the rest of his life. The past won't stay buried and, fifty years later, Joseph must confront the nightmare that has overshadowed his entire life..."

If you'd like to see what others discovered in their mailboxes last week, just click on the redhead in the flirty skirt at the top of this post. As always, a big Thank You to Marcia of The Printed Page for hosting this meme.

See you next Monday!

Musing Mondays-- Love 'em and Leave 'em or Devoted Follower?

Do you prefer to read stand-alone books, or books in series? Do you stick with a series the whole way through or stop after the first installment? Are there any particular series you enjoy?




Although my fiction shelves really don't support this claim, it makes very little difference to me whether a book is a standalone or a part of a series. Either has an equal chance of being brilliant reading.

With that being said, I will admit to being a character-driven reader, and series are made for folks like me. Series allow for rich, in-depth character development. Standalones can do this, too, but with a series, a reader can almost feel like a member of the family as each new book is published and devoured.

I once quipped in a post that my epitaph would read something along the lines of "She started 2,937 series and only finished 94 of them." I have no qualms about not finishing a book if I don't like what I'm reading, so series books are not sacrosanct. The only thing I'm obsessive about in reading series books is reading them in order because of the character development. So if I pick up that first book in a series and it doesn't do anything for me, I'm finished with that particular series. I've also been known to stop reading a series when the characters stop growing or if the plots become stale. It doesn't matter if I've read two or twenty-two. There are just too many books out there for me to sample to waste time on ones that I don't enjoy!

I read a lot of mysteries, so the series I like are all in that genre. Rather than type out a long old list, if you'd like to read about some of my favorites, you're more than welcome to read my post on favorite mystery series. It's in dire need of updating but will give you an idea of what I like!

As an aside...if you're a fan of mystery series and you also like to read them in order, have you heard of Stop, You're Killing Me? It is a website that lists hundreds of mysteries, and the series are all listed in order. This is one website that I refer to almost daily.

A big Thank You to Rebecca of Just One More Page for hosting this fun meme. If you'd like to see other answers to this question, click on the Musing Mondays logo at the top of this post!

Weekly Link Round-Up

Books and Movies in the News

• Want to know whose books get donated to charity shops most often?
• A film company is working on a film version of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
• Secrets of the Amazon Best Seller list.
• From one of my all-time favorite blogs, Appalachian History, a post on how old cookbooks are filled with history.
• From the Penguin Blog: the birth of a book cover.
• If you love movies, by all means check out this series on Lazy Thoughts From a Boomer. It's superb!

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

• Blog Trolls and Other Internet Crazies
• I Was YA When YA Wasn't Cool
• How did you choose your blog name?
• Of course the topic causing the most buzz this week is Book Blogger Appreciation Week, with countless book bloggers receiving email notifications that their blogs have been nominated for awards. Isn't the excitement great?

Techie and Social Media Stuff

• 5 Blogging Etiquette Tips for Beginning Bloggers... and of course it wouldn't hurt the old timers to take a look as well!
• Blog Design: WTF Is That Doing There?
• Why Blog Post Frequency Does Not Matter Anymore.
• Authors like Joseph Finder are trying out book tours on Twitter.

Just Appeared on My Radar: New-to-Me Book Blogs

• Froggaritaville's Bookcase
• Passionate Booklover
• Bookishgal
• A Reading Collection
• He Followed Me Home

That's it for this week, folks. Come back next Sunday to see what new goodies I've discovered!

Bookself #2...Opinions Requested

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photo of one of my bookshelves and asked for opinions. You folks are pretty darned sharp, so I thought I'd post another shelf and see what would happen this time.

Now that you know it's all right to make assumptions about me that are based solely on a shelf of books, I'm hoping that you'll feel fewer constraints and let yourselves go. Like I said, you were very observant last time!

For this second shelf, I am going to do something a bit different. I'm going to post one photo of the entire shelf, then two more photos, each one of which shows half the shelf. All the photos are clickable so you can see them full size.

Take a look at the entire shelf....


Now here is one half of that shelf....


And here is the other half....


This shelf is the top shelf of a bookcase here in my office. Pretend that you've come over for a visit, and while we're sitting in here chatting, you see this shelf and decide to take a closer look at the books.

What would you assume about me just from those books? (Remember...assumptions are good things on a Bookself post!)

Do you own any of these books?

Which books would you pull off the shelf to take a look at?

Do you like any of the titles...do any of them "speak" to you?


Let yourself go in your comments, and next Saturday, I'll do a wrap-up-- including anything that might be a bit special about any of the books!

Kittling: Books Discovery

Long-time readers here will know that I have a decided fondness for Nevada Barr and her Anna Pigeon mystery series. It's been fun riding along with Anna over the years, visiting national parks and catching bad guys. Now that Anna is married and is grudgingly admitting that various joints are beginning to creak, I've been wondering if Barr was going to do something different. She is.

On September 29, a new Barr novel called 13½ will hit the stands. Not many places get to read Barr's books before they're on sale, but according to her blog and Twitter feed, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly like it.

Here's a description from Amazon:

In 1971, the state of Minnesota was rocked by the “Butcher Boy” incident, as coverage of a family brutally murdered by one of their own swept across newspapers and television screens nationwide.

Now, in present-day New Orleans, Polly Deschamps finds herself at yet another lonely crossroads in her life. No stranger to tragedy, Polly was a runaway at the age of fifteen, escaping a nightmarish Mississippi childhood.

Lonely, that is, until she encounters architect Marshall Marchand. Polly is immediately smitten. She finds him attractive, charming, and intelligent. Marshall, a lifelong bachelor, spends most of his time with his brother Danny. When Polly’s two young daughters from her previous marriage are likewise taken with Marshall, she marries him. However, as Polly begins to settle into her new life, she becomes uneasy about her husband’s increasing dark moods, fearing that Danny may be influencing Marshall in ways she cannot understand.

But what of the ominous prediction by a New Orleans tarot card reader, who proclaims that Polly will murder her husband? What, if any, is the Marchands’ connection to the infamous “Butcher Boy” multiple homicide? And could Marshall and his eccentric brother be keeping a dark secret from Polly, one that will shatter the happiness she has forever prayed for?

It's good to see Barr do something different, and I would imagine that it was a welcome change of pace for her. This new book definitely sounds like a winner, and I've got it on my wish list.

For any who worry that we've seen the last of Anna, don't fret. According to Barr's blog, it seems that she's going to Acadia National Park in Maine on a research trip!

I Keep Coming Back for More! Awards

A month has passed, and it's time to dust off the boomerang and send it on its way to the next round of recipients. This is my very own award that sprang to life last month. If you're new here to Kittling: Books, you may be wondering what it's all about:

The I Keep Coming Back for More! Award is for a blog you just can't stay away from. If you've been busy and your Google reader is over 1,000 unread posts, these are the blogs that you single out to read. These are the ones that are never victims to the dreaded Mark All As Read. There may be many different reasons why you can't stay away: a taste in books that mirrors your own, the same sense of humor, always knowing the latest in the book world... for whatever the reason, these blogs are flat out addictive and you have no wish to be cured!

Since I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. method, the rules are rather simple:

• Enjoy the award. If you don't want to put it on your blog, don't. Just get the warm, fuzzy feeling that I'm sending your way!
• You don't have to reveal any deep, dark secrets about yourself or answer any sort of questions. You've already earned it!
  
• You don't have to link back to me.
• You don't have to give it to anyone else.
  

Simple, huh? Now, if you do want to give this award to someone else, that's a whole 'nuther kettle of fish.

If you do want to pass it along to some of those addictive book blogs in your reader, just follow the same four rules I outlined above. This is a pay-it-forward award. Nothing is to be expected in return!

This month, the bloggers and their addictive blogs that I want to give the award to are:

• Marie of The Burton Review
• Corey of The Drowning Machine
• Margot of Joyfully Retired
• Caite of a lovely shore breeze...
• Michele of A Reader's Respite
• Molly of my cozy book nook

I could give testimonials for each of the aforementioned blogs, but instead of doing that, I'd like you to visit each and every one yourself. It's my hope that (if you don't already) you'll find them as addictive as I do!

Channeling Sally

I've been busier than a one-armed paperhanger with the hives, so I want to apologize to Beth for not acknowledging the award she gave me in a timely manner. Beth of Beth Fish Reads shared the love by bestowing upon me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you so much, Beth!




The past couple of days, reading email around here has been just like opening Christmas presents. I'm sending many, many thanks out to an unknown number of my readers who nominated me for FIVE Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping for one. Five just blows my mind!

Thank you so much for thinking I deserve to be in the running for the following awards:

• Most Eclectic Taste Blog
  
• Most Humorous/Funniest Blog
  
• Best Series or Feature
• Best Thriller/Mystery/Suspense Blog
• Best Writing

The next step in the process was to choose five posts that I felt best represented Kittling: Books in each category-- not an easy task, but it's done! Those who are shortlisted for the awards will be notified, and general voting will begin on September 7.

Each nomination for one of these awards represents so much hard work. I want to congratulate each and every book blogger who received one. It's a grand feeling, isn't it?

Good Luck to All of Us!
Thank You to Everyone Who Participates!

It's Time for...Friday Feud!

Another week has flown past at the speed of light, and it's time for another edition of Friday Feud here at Kittling: Books.

The rules are few and simple:

--Try your absolute best not to duplicate answers, but if you're compelled to, put your own spin on it.
--All answers go in the comments section of this post, please.

That's it. Relatively painless, eh?

Now that all those rules are out of the way, it's time to play The Feud!

This week's question:

Name an award that you would love to win.

Shakespeare's Counselor by Charlaine Harris

Title: Shakespeare's Counselor
Author: Charlaine Harris
ISBN: 0425201147, Berkley Prime Crime, 2005
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #5 Lily Bard mystery
Rating: B

First Line: I connected with a hard blow to the nose, rolled on top of him, gripped his neck, and started to squeeze.


Few people know this in small town Shakespeare, Arkansas, but Lily Bard not only works for private investigator Jack Leeds, she's married to him. However, being married seems to put more stress on Lily and Jack is taking the brunt of it. Lily is still scarred mentally and physically from her horrendous kidnapping and rape that occurred several years ago. She may never completely recover, but if Jack is to survive unscathed, she knows she has to do something to end her nightmares.

Lily joins a therapy group for victims of rape run by newcomer Tamsin Lynd. When a woman is killed before the second group session, Tamsin is scared to death that a stalker has followed her and her husband Cliff all the way to Arkansas from back East. Lily decides to find out if her therapist is right.

This is a series I've enjoyed from the beginning. Due to her history, Lily is an edgy character who's found it very difficult to let her guard down enough to get close to anyone else. This series has been a gradual letdown of that reserve, showing Lily beginning to heal and to trust others.

As I read Shakespeare's Counselor I got the feeling that the book really wanted to be something else instead of a mystery. Lily's rape and recovery has been a theme throughout the series, and with Harris having her actually join a therapy group and interact with other victims, I felt that this was the direction in which the book really wanted to go. The identity of the murderer strained my credulity a bit, so it would've been interesting to see how the book would have turned out if allowed to follow that different direction.

Harris has no plans to go further in this series, and I don't think there's any point. Lily's well on her way to recovery, and she's got a good partner in Jack. If only it were this simple to get all victims of rape back on the right road!

If you like edgy characters and slightly stronger themes in your cozy mysteries, you might just want to give Lily Bard a try.

The Last Victim in Glen Ross by M. G. Kincaid

Title: The Last Victim in Glen Ross
Author: M.G. Kincaid
ISBN: 0743467566, Pocket Books, 2003
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Seth Mornay mystery
Rating: B-

First Line: Conversations in the Macduff police office ceased the moment Detective Inspector Walter Byrne barreled through the plate-glass doors.

Two years ago Seth Mornay, ex-Royal Marine, returned home to start a new life as a Detective Sergeant in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Grampian police force. When the body of a woman is found in an old churchyard, it's up to Mornay and his partner, Constable Claire Gillespie, to solve the case despite the fact that their immediate supervisor seems to be throwing cogs into the works every chance he gets.

It took almost half this book before the pieces began to fall together and "percolate". In the beginning, Mornay is shown as being more interested in the number of women he can bed than he is in solving his cases. His career in the Royal Marines is mentioned several times but details are extremely sketchy, and the tired convention of the obstructive superior tends to bore me. Since I've never been impressed by detectives with overactive zippers, I was seriously thinking about sending this book along to the next reader unfinished. Mornay was supposed to be the Whiz Kid of the Grampian CID, but none of the evidence was supporting that claim.

Fortunately Kincaid managed to get Mornay on track. One or two details about his past in the military, Mornay's sudden abstinence, and the tie-in of an earlier case made The Last Victim in Glen Ross an involving and interesting read. My day was saved.

I have the next book in the series, Last Seen in Aberdeen, on my shelves, and I'll be picking it up sometime in future to read the further adventures of DS Mornay.

Scene of the Blog-- Belle of Ms. Bookish

This week we're taking a good Inner Peeping Tom look at the blogging space of Belle, Ms. Bookish herself. This lady is interesting, she certainly knows how to write, and we share some reading DNA. I would be hard pressed to name one feature of her blog that stands out to me because I enjoy reading ALL of her posts. And if you've been the recipient of her thoughtful comments on your own posts, you know she's one helpful, friendly book blogger. If you haven't visited her blog, please take the opportunity to do so. You'll be glad you did!

I could talk on about Belle, but I don't want her to flare into terminal blush, and besides...less can be more, if you know what I mean. So I'm going to cut to the chase and show you her creative spaces. Remember that all the photos are clickable so you can view them full size.

Cathy has impeccable timing: I received her email about participating in the Scene of the Blog on the day after I had finished a massive cleanup of my desk and office space. This is a rare event; my desk is normally buried under many, many piles of "stuff". Piling is actually my main organizational system; I've been told it's the sign of a creative mind. I'm quite happy to embrace that as the explanation, especially since the alternative is that I am just plain messy.

This is the desk where I spend vast periods of my life. In addition to blogging at Ms Bookish, I also work from home. I'm a book indexer by trade - I'm the one who creates those great indexes (sometimes not-so-great, but I didn't do those, honest) you find in the back of books. I've been doing this for over ten years now, and it's been nothing short of wonderful: I get paid to read books! Granted, most of the books I read for work are textbooks that run the gamut from economics to algebra to biology to psychology, but I do index a handful of trade books every year, too. I enjoy the cookbooks the most.

On the right-hand side you can see a carousel of gel pens. I use these for marking up proofs, because it makes me feel like I'm creating art. I'm not, but I'm very much for self-deception if it's going to make my job more fun.

I'm not sure if you can make them out, but hanging from the window are strands of electric stars. We picked these up at IKEA one year for Christmas, and I loved them so much, I commandeered them for the office and they have been shining brightly at night for me ever since.

Speaking of IKEA, astute readers will probably realize that all the furniture that's visible in the picture comes from IKEA, with the exception of my ergonomic office chair and the small bookcase that holds my printer.

This picture was taken before I grew a massive TBR pile on the floor in front of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases; the pile happened because my two TBR shelves, which occupies the bottom two shelves in the picture, were, as you can see, fuller than full. There's also a shelf filled with blank notebooks and journals, right above the TBR shelf closest to my desk; I collect blank notebooks the same way I collect books. I just can't resist them (I'm in love with Moleskine ones right now).

Not visible in the picture are my husband's desk (his is identical to mine, only it's up against the wall behind me - also, he's much neater than I am, so it's usually nice and tidy) and my kids' desks, which are to my right. There are many nights the five of us are crowded into this tiny office, all of us with our computers going, mice clicking, keyboards tapping. It's a good arrangement, as my older two are teens, and it's just about the only time I get to see them these days. Plus, their screens are fully visible to me as they surf the World Wild, um, I mean Wide, Web.

While I do all my writing, blogging and working at my desk, I find I never read there. Despite the comfortable office chair, I just feel inclined to read in my office. I have three places where I do my most reading. One is in my bed. The other two places are in this armchair; it's a recliner, and during the day there's lots of light. At night, I use the standing lamp beside it.

Sometimes, though, I don't feel like sitting. I'm one of those people who like to lie down to read. That's where our living room sofa comes in handy. We don't have a television in the living room, just in our sitting room, so I can normally just stretch out on this couch to read, and not have to kick anyone off in order to do so.

I have to admit that I love Belle's creative spaces. Her office is a place that I feel I could get a lot of work done. I love the wall color and the star lights at the window. As for her armchair and sofa, I could curl up on both quite happily. Look at all the windows letting light flood in, and it looks as though the room is painted the same shade of green as my bedroom and main bathroom, so it goes without saying that I like it, too. You know me, though. I have to admit that I'm wondering (in the sofa photo) what that is just outside the window on the left. Is it a hose reel? Not that it matters a hill of beans--I'm just nosy! I also like the fact that she shares office space with her husband...just like I do. Thanks so much for letting us into your home, Belle. We really appreciate it!

This week Canada...where will we be next week? You'll just have to come back and find out!

Wordless Wednesday

Two Tubs Inn, Bury, Lancashire, England

More Wordless Wednesday.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Title: The White Queen
Author: Philippa Gregory
ISBN: 9781847374561, Simon & Schuster UK Ltd., 2009
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A

First Line: My father is Sir Richard Woodville, Baron Rivers, an English nobleman, a landholder and a supporter of the true kings of England, the Lancastrian line.

This is the first entry in a new historical series by Gregory centering on the English War of the Roses. My "history" with Philippa Gregory has been a bit uneven. Some of her novels I've enjoyed a great deal, others didn't do much for me. I am not a purist when it comes to reading historical fiction. I always pick up a book in this genre believing that the story will take precedence over the history. As long as there are no glaring errors that throw me out of the story, I am content.

What really makes the world go round? No matter how much we may sing about it or want it, it's certainly not love. No, what makes the world go round are greedy, grasping individuals/families/clans whose thoughts seldom rise from the rut of "I, Me, Mine". A case in point is The White Queen. Gregory tells us of the world as seen through the eyes of Elizabeth Woodville, a young widow whose beauty captivated King Edward IV. As you read, never once forget that Elizabeth's view of her world is a distorted one.

Did you read the first sentence of the book above? From the very first, Elizabeth is shown as a woman who is supremely concerned with position and wealth. When she stood out in the road to wait for the king to ride by, she was merely wanting her husband's lands restored so she wouldn't have to live on the charity of others. When she saw the look on Edward's face, she immediately knew that, if she played her cards right, she might very well obtain a lot more.

Does it sound like I didn't like Elizabeth? It should, because I didn't. When she becomes Queen of England, she and her mother busy themselves giving everyone in the family important positions and power. That's the way it's always been done. They laugh when they marry off young male relatives to old wealthy widows so that they can inherit vast estates and further the family's ambitions. Never once did they seem to think that this behavior would have any repercussions.

When sending her three-year-old son to Wales (the Tudor stronghold), Elizabeth appoints her brother Anthony as the boy's chief advisor. What are her first words about this to her brother? Are they about keeping her little boy safe? Are they about his education, his diet, his happiness? No. "Anthony, there is much profit to be won from Wales." It is to Anthony's credit that, when he accepts the position, he speaks of the little boy and his well-being.

At her husband's death bed, Elizabeth's thoughts are not on losing Edward, but the best way to get her choice as Lord Protector of England accepted.

She calls herself a realist and her brother, Anthony, a dreamer, but Anthony is the one who sees the truth in the court of Elizabeth and Edward. Anthony is the character that I like in this book. He says the symbol of the House of York should not be the white rose, but the old sign of eternity-- the snake eating itself. "They are a house which has to have blood and they will shed their own if they have no other enemy."

Given that I've already admitted to not liking the main character, you'll be forgiven if you think I didn't like the book. But if you saw my rating at the top, you know that's not so. I don't have to like the main character to enjoy the book. All I ask is that the main character is multi-faceted and interesting. Elizabeth is certainly both those things. She is strong-willed, knows exactly what she wants, and grabs for it with both hands-- ultimately bringing disaster down upon her entire family.

There has been talk of Elizabeth and her mother, Jacquetta, using magic several times in the book. Gregory walked a very fine line throughout but in the end, she didn't overplay the magic for me. What did irritate me was the habit Elizabeth had of always referring to the sons of her first marriage as her "Grey sons". But a woman as conscious of wealth, power and position as she would do that. After all, those boys weren't as important as her sons by the King of England-- the Princes in the Tower.

This is a very strong start to Gregory's new series. I certainly look forward to reading the other books as they are published.


*Advance Reader's Copy supplied by Simon & Schuster UK.