A Peaceful, Easy Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I've just been responding to comments on my post about the legendary musical instruments on exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum here in the valley, so that's probably where I got the idea for the musically themed title for this week's round-up. 

After braving an unexpected stampede of people at the Desert Botanical Garden last week, Denis and I made the decision to stay home this week in order to avoid more hordes of winter visitors, people off work, and children of all ages being out of school. Not that it's a hardship; we have plenty to keep ourselves occupied. In fact, we "celebrated" Boxing Day by cleaning out our closet in the bedroom. (After spending all this time clearing out and reorganizing a space, you'd think we'd take extra care in keeping it that way, but we never do... at least where closets are concerned.)

Right now, I'm sitting here in the living room watching a mockingbird take a protracted bath and the next-door neighbor pulling weeds. We've been getting some much-needed rain, and more is expected today. When I'll get done here, I'll curl up with my latest book (I've just experienced another hurricane in John Keyse-Walker's latest mystery) and keep snug beneath one of Mom's afghans. I can almost hear her say, "All those afghans you've knitted, and you're wrapped up in one of mine!"

Another thing I've been toying with is making reading resolutions. This is something I really don't do; I'll have vague thoughts about this and that. If I happen to actually accomplish them by year's end, that's good, but I don't beat myself up if they're not done. What sort of resolutions, you ask? I keep telling myself to read more translated fiction. I certainly didn't follow through with it this year. I'd like to read one non-fiction book and one translated book per month in 2022. It's certainly doable, but will I remember? Guess it's going to take a year before any of us find out!

Here's hoping that you all have received new reading material for the coming year. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Alison Stine on how writers should name their characters.
• Spencer Kope on the monsters of Maple Falls in Whatcom County, Washington.
• The strange history of the worst sentence in English literature.
• A scientific explanation for your urge to sniff old books.
• Ann Patchett on creating the workspace you need.
• Why William Hogarth is Britain's greatest artist. (Well...he was my mother's favorite, too.)
• For Pete's sake-- just who is Pete?
• The American Library Association says there were 155 efforts to censor books in U.S. schools and libraries since June 1, 2021. More on the book banning abomination in Texas. And finally, the Guardian on how all these American conservatives trying to ban books are starting to make reading cool again.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Scientists just reconstructed one of the oldest family trees ever charted.
• A gold ring with a Jesus symbol is one of the items found in a treasure trove in an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Israel.
• A rare gold-wrapped jar may reveal the splendor of early medieval Britain.
• There's a lost palace that rivaled Versailles buried under Brussels.
• A miniature by Sarah Biffin, a 19th-century artist born with no arms or legs, exceeds its estimates at auction.
• Why this ancient civilization fell out of love with gold for seven hundred years.
• 1,900-year-old Roman "battle spoils" were recovered from robbers in Jerusalem.
• An extremely rare penny found in a boy's lunch money is now worth a fortune.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• How shark antibodies could aid in the fight against Coronavirus and prepare for future outbreaks.
• At first she thought her dog was acting weird. Then she noticed something wrong with her baby.
• This thoughtful buffalo uses his horn to flip over an upside down tortoise.
• The Australian lyrebird can mimic the sounds of cameras, chainsaws, and car alarms. (I remember watching one of Sir David Attenborough's specials that featured lyrebirds.)
• A lost eagle from Asia has been flying around America for more than a year.
• Once a year, capybaras at this Japanese zoo are treated to a fully immersive spa day.
• Baby elephants can't control their trunks, and it's hilarious to watch them try.
• Everything you always wanted to know about detection dogs.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Eleven-year-old Davyon Johnson helped save a child from choking and a woman from a house fire... on the same day. 
• Teen Emily Bhatnagar found a way to ease her anxiety and despair by giving away thousands of books to sick children.
• Twenty heads that changed history.
• Disney inspiration Uta von Ballenstedt.
• Twenty unsung heroes from history.
• How Tim Wong repopulated San Francisco with a locally rare butterfly species.
• Five things to know about French Enlightenment genius Émilie du Châtelet.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Wreath-making in national parks? In Mexico, yes.
• Fossils from one of the world's first reefs can be seen on mountains in Nevada. (Bet you weren't expecting that location.)
• Inside the apartments of New York City literary legends, c. 1995.
• Mexicans create wetlands to ease drought and ensure an adequate supply of water.
• Los Angeles crime fiction.
• How one small English village sacrificed itself to stop the plague from spreading. (I've walked the streets of Eyam.)
• Seaview Terrace, the Gilded Age mansion of Dark Shadows fame, has 43,000 square feet and is on the market for $29.9 million. (I used to watch Dark Shadows because the acting was so hilarious.)

 

►More of Those Best of 2021 Lists◄

• CrimeReads: Best Speculative Thrillers and Mysteries of 2021.
• LA Times: America's top mystery book critics break down the year in crime.
• CrimeReads: The Best Crime Movies of 2021.
• BookMarks: The Award-Winning Novels of 2021.
• The New Yorker: The Best Cookbooks of the Year.
• New York City libraries release their top checkouts of 2021.
• CrimeReads: The Best Crime and Mystery TV Shows of 2021.
• The Ultimate Best Books of 2021 List.
• Thirty of the Best British Christmas Commercials of 2021.
• BookPage: Best Mystery and Suspense of 2021.
• CrimeReads: Best Debut Novels of 2021.
• CrimeReads: Best Historical Fiction of 2021.
• CrimeReads: Best Noir Fiction of 2021.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten long-forgotten expressions to drop into conversation. (I love doing this.)
• Books by women writing in World War II. 
• Eleven of the most expensive celebrity dresses of all time.
• Seven epistolary novels that push literary boundaries.
• Ten historical novels for when the weather outside is frightful.
• Twenty of the most important moments in internet history.
• Twenty-three nature photos you would not believe are real.
• Ten winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
• Twenty winners of the 2021 Nature Conservancy Photo Contest.
  

 

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

Happy New Year!

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

 

First Line: Cork O'Connor first heard the story of the Windigo in the fall of 1963 when he hunted the big bear with Sam Winter Moon.

 

Cork O'Connor loses his job as sheriff of a small Minnesota town after a confrontation between whites and Native Americans on the nearby reservation causes him to shoot a local white resort owner. The loss of his job also led to the loss of his marriage. 

Even though he's begun a new relationship with Molly Nurmi, he hasn't lost hope of rebuilding his marriage-- primarily because of his children.

When a judge commits suicide and a local boy goes missing, Cork finds himself drawn to investigate regardless of the fact that there's a new sheriff in town. The long-buried secrets he's going to find are going to ignite a powder keg.

~

Having seen William Kent Krueger several times at events held at my local independent bookstore, I've always intended to read his Cork O'Connor 0mysteries-- especially since I loved his book, Ordinary Grace. A few years have passed since I first had that intention, so it was time to pry that particular paving stone out of my personal Highway to Hades. 

Iron Lake is the first Cork O'Connor mystery and introduces us primarily to Cork, his estranged wife, Jo, his girlfriend, Molly, and his mentor, Sam Winter Moon. Cork is one-quarter Native American, and I loved the way Krueger wove the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe culture and folklore into the story. The winter landscape of northern Minnesota also figured prominently, and I don't think anyone is ever going to be able to convince me that sweating myself silly in a sauna and then running out and jumping into a lake through a hole in the ice is a fun thing to do.

The mystery is solid, and the pacing is steady and true as Cork works his way through all the secrets that have been kept over the years by several of the townspeople. Some extremely suspenseful situations and a chase over the lake ice kept me glued to the story.

Was there anything that I didn't care for? Yes. The two women were a bit too stereotypical for me. Jo was such a "wronged woman" that I rolled my eyes so far back in my head that they almost stuck. As for Molly, she was the typical love interest of the hero. Even though I hate to admit it, I never really warmed up to Cork himself, and I'm not sure why. As much as I did like Iron Lake, I can certainly see myself reading the next book in the series to see if Mr. O'Connor improves upon acquaintance.

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

Narrated by David Chandler

ASIN: B003NGXOQ0

Recorded Books © 2010

Audiobook. 11 hours, 57 minutes.

 

Law Enforcement, #1 Cork O'Connor mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Audible.

January 2022 New Mystery Releases!

I'm putting this post together on the Wednesday before Christmas. Denis and I just got back from the Desert Botanical Garden, all is quiet, and since I'm behind on blogging, I figured this would be the perfect time for a little catch-up. Come to think of it, writing blog posts isn't the only thing that needs to be caught up.

I use Firefox as my browser, and last month they decided to do away with a staple of my online life, Speed Dial, in which I kept track of all my important bookmarks. Did they give any warning? Heavens to Murgatroyd, no! I just logged on one day and found it was -- POOF!-- gone. This isn't the first time that Firefox has done this to me with the same thing, and I know one way to get around it, but I decided to be contrary and not do it. I am slowly gathering together my bookmarks, and I'll have to come up with the best solution to squirrel them away somewhere that Firefox can't get to them. 

One of the things that this debacle messed up for me was all the blogs I like to keep track of, so... if some of you haven't heard from me in awhile, that's why.

Time to drag this post back on track! The following list contains my picks of the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of January. I've grouped them by their release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of my favorite showroom, Amazon.

Let's see if I've chosen any titles that tickle your fancy, too.

=== January 4 ===

Title: Palms, Paradise, Poison

Author: John Keyse-Walker

Series: #3 in the Teddy Creque police procedural series set in the British Virgin Islands and Cuba.

224 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "Constable Teddy Creque, the sole police officer on the tiny, sun-soaked island of Anegada, is used to weathering storms. So when Hurricane Leatha hits the Caribbean with brutal force, his main concern is keeping the island’s two hundred residents safe.

Teddy expects the power to go out. He expects the phone lines to go down. But he doesn’t expect the radioed message from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force headquarters, informing him of a dangerous escaped prisoner. Queen Ya-Ya is a practitioner of ancient Afro-Cuban rites – and rumor has it she can kill with magic.

Teddy doesn’t believe in magic, and when he easily recaptures the dignified, imposing Queen Ya-Ya, he doesn’t believe his prisoner is dangerous either. But when she mysteriously kills a man from inside her locked cell, before vanishing once more into the night, Teddy is forced to reconsider . . .

This page-turning mystery from award-winning author John Keyse-Walker takes readers on an exciting journey from the storm-tossed British Virgin Islands to the heart of Cuba, and is a perfect pick for readers who like their mysteries international, atmospheric and adventurous." 

Title: Spirits and Smoke

Author: Mary Miley

Series: #2 in the Mystic's Accomplice historical series set in Chicago in the 1920s.

224 pages

 

Synopsis: "December, 1924. Young widow Maddie Pastore feels fortunate to be employed by the well-meaning but fraudulent medium Carlotta Romany. Investigating Carlotta’s clients isn’t work she’s proud of, but she’s proud of how well she does it.

Maddie’s talents, however, draw them unwelcome attention: sharp-eyed Officer O’Rourke from the Chicago Police. He doesn’t believe in spiritualism – but in a city packed with mobsters, con artists and criminals, he’ll take any help he can get.

It’s not long before Maddie has a case to bring him. Why did teetotal banker Herman Quillen die of alcohol poisoning? And who is the gold-toothed man claiming to be his brother, and demanding the spirits reveal where Herman hid his money?

All Maddie wants is to uncover the truth – but to her horror, she’s soon mixed up in a tangled web of secrets and deception that leads to the heart of Chicago’s violent gangs . . . and she’ll need all her wits about her if she, and her loved ones, are going to make it out again alive.

Spirits and Smoke, the sequel to The Mystic’s Accomplice, to is an ideal pick for readers who enjoy Jazz Age mysteries with feisty female sleuths, sparkling historical detail and Prohibition high-jinks." 

Title: Gone Missin'

Author: Peggy O'Neal Peden

Series: #2 in the cozy Nashville mystery series set in Tennessee and Mexico.

192 pages

 

Synopsis: "Travel agent Campbell Hale isn’t surprised when she hears her good friend, socialite and talented artist Bitsy Carter, has booked a luxury Mexican spa vacation through her agency. Bitsy often takes solo trips abroad, and who’d want to spend February in grey Nashville when they could avoid it?

She is, however, extremely surprised – and extremely worried – when Bitsy doesn’t come back.

What could compel warm, friendly Bitsy to run away without telling anyone her plans? And most puzzling of all: what could make her leave her small children behind?

The answers lie in Zihuatanejo, and Campbell barely needs to twist new boyfriend Detective Sam Davis’ arm to get him to agree to accompany her there. Campbell’s determined to uncover the truth, but will this be a vacation to remember . . . or one to die for?" 

Title: The Maid

Author: Nita Prose

Standalone amateur sleuth mystery set in Canada.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?"

=== January 11 ===

Title: A Three Book Problem

Author: Vicki Delany

Series: #7 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set in Massachusetts.

320 pages 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "It's a crisp, early October weekend, and business is slowing down as fall descends at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and adjacent Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. Wealthy philanthropist and prominent Sherlockian David Masterson has rented Suffolk Gardens House, where he plans to entertain his friends in a traditional English country house weekend.

As the chosen caterers, Jayne Wilson and Gemma Doyle get to work preparing lavish meals and setting up Sherlockian books and props for entertainment. Meanwhile, police detective Ryan Ashburton has taken time away from his duties to assist in the kitchen. It quickly becomes apparent that David's guests don't like each other--or their host. Plus, some of them aren't even acquainted with the adventures of the Great Detective.

Before Gemma can ponder their relationships a poisoned dart sails through the window of the library, presenting Gemma Doyle with a three-book problem."

Title: A Flicker in the Dark

Author: Stacy Willingham

Standalone thriller set in Louisiana

368 pages

 

Synopsis: "When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page." 

Title: Wolf Hollow

Author: Victoria Houston

Series: #1 in the Lew Ferris police procedural series set in Wisconsin.

288 pages

 

Synopsis: "It's mid-May in the tiny northwoods Wisconsin town of Loon Lake, and the fish are biting. Walleye's not the only thing on the hook. There are rumors that a precious vein of nickel and copper is buried on the property of wealthy Grace McDonough, and the drilling is about to begin. But not if environmentalist Pete Ferris can help it.

When Grace's 24-year-old son, Noah, is caught in a sordid sex crime, police chief Lew Ferris makes the arrest. But a day later, Lew is stricken when her brother Pete turns up dead, a bloody pry bar found in the woods nearby. Then, Grace's body is discovered in a car at the bottom of a river--and Noah has vanished. Lew puts out a statewide APB, but before long, Noah is also found murdered on the McDonough property.

It's beginning to look like mother and son were killed by the same person. And when Lew learns that her brother had planned to file a lawsuit to prevent drilling for the sulfide mine, a key piece of the puzzle suddenly falls into place.

Lew is beginning to close in on the truth. But has the killer set his bait again, angling for his biggest catch yet?" 

=== January 25 ===

Title: The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Author: Eva Jurczyk

Standalone mystery set in the rare books department of a large university.

336 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long―and about the people who care for and revere them―shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life." 

 

 

Title: Murder at a Scottish Social

Author: Traci Hall

Series: #3 in the Scottish Shire cozy series set on the north coast of Scotland.

288 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Opening her shop Cashmere Crush and making a new home for herself, her son Brody, Gramps, and their black Scottish terrier Wallace in the beautiful Scottish village of Nairn is a dream come true. So Paislee is happy to give back by donating a luxurious cashmere sweater for an auction to raise money for the Nairn Food Bank. She’s less happy to make the acquaintance of a clique of competitive moms at the charity event, who treat a baking contest like it’s life or death. It turns out to be the latter for Queen Bee Kristen Buchanan when a peanut-laced shortbread cookie triggers her fatal nut allergy.
 
Who would poison Kristen? How about half the town? But when Paislee’s pal Blaise is suspected, the sweater-selling sleuth leaps into action to unravel the mystery. Along with gruff but handsome DI Mack Zeffer, she has to sort through a batch of suspects without becoming this cookie-cutter killer’s next target…" 

Title: A Valiant Deceit

Author: Stephanie Graves

Series: #2 in the Olive Bright historical series set in World War II England.

320 pages

 

Synopsis: "Returning to Pipley following her FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) training, Olive is eager to step up her involvement in the war effort. Her pigeons are being conscripted to aid the Belgian resistance, and it’s up to Olive to choose the best birds for the mission. To protect the secrecy of their work, she must also continue the ruse of being romantically involved with her superior, Captain Jameson Aldridge, a task made more challenging by the fact that she really does have feelings for the gruff Irish intelligence officer.
 
But perhaps the greatest challenge of all comes when an instructor at Station XVII, the top-secret training school housed at Brickendonbury Manor, is found dead in Balls Wood by a troop of Girl Guides. The police quickly rule Lieutenant Jeremy Beckett’s death an accident, but based on clues she finds at the scene, Olive begins to suspect he might have been a spy. Involving the reluctant Jamie, she is determined to solve the murder and possibly stop a threat to their intelligence efforts which could put the Belgians—not to mention her pigeons—in grave danger." 

Well... how did I do? Did I choose any books that tickled your fancy? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

 

First Lines: 2017. The doors are new: Automatic open. Fancy. That has changed since Aidan was here last.

 

Aleisha needs her job not only for the money but also as a temporary refuge from her life at home. Although she tried to find work at really interesting places like clothing shops, she got stuck with a job at a library that's under threat of being closed down. Aleisha is not a reader, can't understand why people would want to waste time reading books, and isn't particularly pleasant to any of the patrons who come to the checkout desk for her help.

After being unforgivably rude to an older gentleman, Aleisha is on the brink of being fired. She happens across a list of books, and-- thinking that if the old man comes in again, she'd be able to recommend something for him to read-- she begins reading the first book on the list. What happens next is the beginning of a friendship that will transform both Aleisha's life and the life of an elderly man named Mukesh.

~

Sometimes you read recurring hype about a particular book and you think to yourself, "It sounds good, but I've been burned more than once by reading over-publicized books. Maybe I'll read it. One of these days." Then sometimes a certain book keeps appearing on your radar, and you actually hear its siren call, a call that really has nothing to do with hype or publicity, and you know you should read it. That's what happened to me when I kept hearing praise of Sara Nisha Adams' The Reading List. That little inner voice of mine said, "Read this one now."

What made this book different? Number one, I've been compiling reading lists almost from the time I learned how to write. Number two, I had to know what books were on this particular list. Three, when I learned that the book was about how certain books can change your life, I was all in for I, too, have read transformative books. Reading the right book at the right time is powerful. It can change the way you see things. It can shine a spotlight on the dark gnarled knot of a problem and help you see the solution. It can help you to understand and to empathize with other people.

 

All this and more happens to Aleisha and Mukesh in The Reading List.  Aleisha and her brother Aidan are trapped in a nightmarish situation with their mentally fragile mother. Mukesh is mourning the death of his beloved wife and has three overbearing daughters who make him wish he'd lost his hearing first instead of getting a collection of aching joints that don't want to work properly. Mukesh's wife was a voracious reader. So is his granddaughter Priya. In order to have a better relationship with Priya, Mukesh decides to go to his local library where he meets the initially boorish Aleisha.  It takes a while, but the magic finally does happen.

Watching the friendship of these two very different people blossom through reading the books on a list is wonderful. It brought back so many memories of my own. Of growing up in a village library where my mother was the librarian and I was allowed to help. Of sitting in the back at the table to do my homework and listening to the patrons who came in to check out both the newest books and the latest gossip. And of reading in the quiet and being transported by one book after another-- reading of wonderful places to visit when I grew up, reading of fictional characters who became family for a rather lonely only child, and of learning to observe and to understand more and more of the world and the people around me.

There are moments in The Reading List that made me laugh. There are moments that made me cry. If you're a reader, you need to read this book. If you're not a reader, I won't ask why you're reading this review, I'll just hope that you crack open a copy of The Reading List, and maybe... just maybe... you'll see the light and join the rest of us on our journeys.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

eISBN: 9780063025301

HarperCollins © 2021

eBook, 384 pages

 

Contemporary Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Legendary Musical Instruments at MIM

 On December 8, Denis and I went to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) to see the Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments exhibit. The range of instruments showcased was incredible, and-- you know me-- I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Let's get started!

In the Target Gallery to see the Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments exhibit.

"Zendegi" kamancheh, a bowed spike lute from Iran, 1750-1794. Made from mulberry, rosewood, apricot, and fufel woods with camel bone, silver, and fish skin.

This long, thin ceremonial trumpet may not look like much, but it's a salpinx made of bone and bronze and is about 2,300 years old. It may very well have been played at one of the original Olympic Games to introduce the athletes.

This Chinese paigu (goblet drum) is 6,000 years old and is the oldest instrument in MIM's collection.

A Mayan conch shell trumpet made from shell and cinnabar. It dates from 250-400 AD.

A sitār from northern India made in the early 1899s of wood, calabash, bone, and brass.

Sitār detail. The detail on some of these instruments simply blows me away.

The exhibit on Native American instruments.

An Apache fiddle from Arizona. Made in the early 1900s of agave plant, horsehair, and pigment.

A kelutviaq (bowed lute) made by the Yup'ik people of Alaska in the late 1800s of wood and pigment.

This pochette (pocket fiddle) was made in Paris, France, in 1671 of ebony, boxwood, and silver wire. It was a status symbol used by dance masters to teach dance steps to aristocrats and was made to fit in the master's large pocket.

A Kumu model ukulele made in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2021. Koa wood, mahogany, ebony, mother-of-pearl, abalone, reconstituted stone, turquoise, onyx. The shimmering abalone shell framing the koa wood body symbolizes the ocean surrounding the islands, and the fingerboard inlays depict a coral reef complete with red kumu fish. This instrument is GORGEOUS.

Detail of ukulele fingerboard.

Khatam tonbak (goblet drum) from Iran made from mulberry and rosewood, animal skin, camel bone, and brass.

This Ottoman tanbur (plucked lute) was made in Turkey in the early to mid-1700s of wood, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, gold leaf, and ivory.

Tanbur detail.

Tanbur detail. This tanbur and the ukulele were my two favorites in the exhibit. You should see how they both glow in the lighting!

Harp made by the Mangbetu people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1875-1900, of wood, fiber, brass tack, copper, and goatskin. The harp was a praise-singer's instrument, played to elevate the status claims of  important individuals.

A bell made by the Mangbetu people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was ceremonially sounded to accentuate a chief's speech or actions.

Now... if we could only hear all of these instruments being played!

A Holiday Hugs Weekly Link Round-Up

 

 

This is the perfect time of year for hugs, regardless of what you're celebrating (or not, as the case may be), and I wish I could give all y'all a big one for coming through yet another interesting year.

 

The past couple of weeks, I've found myself focusing more and more on 2022. I've already mentioned obtaining tickets for a Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert in February. Now I've also got my hands on tickets to the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest at the Heard Museum, which is also in February. Add that to Left Coast Crime that Denis and I are planning to attend in April, and it's obvious that I'm working toward feeling more a part of the human race again instead of being a hermit. (Denis, too!) It goes without saying that I sincerely hope all of you have a dazzling 2022; we certainly all deserve it, don't we?

Enjoy the links!

 

 

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• An author shares what it's like to have your book banned by the school board.
• Native rights are human rights.
• World War II stories and the proliferation of historical fiction.
• The joy of writing by hand.
• The publishing world is finally embracing Black cookbooks.
• How creative non-fiction became a serious, legitimate genre.
• Self-soothe with this video of a 120-year-old book of fairy tales being restored.
• A South Florida group has started a "Books in Barbershops" campaign to promote literacy.
• Crowdfunding offers the UK's independent booksellers a pandemic lifeline.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists have discovered the oldest domesticated dog remains in the Americas.
• Researchers have unearthed a 2,000-year-old synagogue in Mary Magdalene's supposed hometown.
• France has approved a controversial plan to renovate Notre-Dame Cathedral.
• How a village united to save Cinque Terre's ancient terraces.
• A gold unicorn ring lost for nearly four hundred years has sold for $27,000.
• Experts have cracked the secret to the last letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots before her execution.
• A New York antiquities collector has returned 180 stolen artifacts worth $70 million.
• A piece of embroidery stitched by Mary, Queen of Scots will come up for auction.
• Rare gowns found in trunks unpack important fashion history.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• A newfound millipede breaks the world record for most legs.
• A Connecticut police dog named Izzy found a missing 10-year-old girl and helped bring her home safely.
• Zookeepers share their favorite "behind the scenes" photos.
• Lily the service dog helps her disabled human and her deaf sibling every day.
• A real-life Moby Dick has been spotted off the coast of Jamaica.
• Watch a baby elephant try to make friends with a dog.
• A rare look inside the nests of declining prairie songbirds.
• Outdoor pet cats are spreading a brain parasite to wildlife and humans. (They're called HOUSE cats for a reason, folks. They need to stay INSIDE your house.)

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Nathan Shipley uses AI to recreate how famous historical figures would look like in real life.
• Doña Viviana created a candle empire from her ancestral village in Mexico.
• Ethel Lina White, the Abergavenny writer who inspired Alfred Hitchcock.
• Marthe Hanau, the greatest confidence artist in French history.
• How Dolly Parton became the world's best-loved celebrity.
• S.A. Cosby on the conversation around policing in America-- and why it needs to change.
• Tichkematse, the first Native American employee at the Smithsonian.
• The measureless, omnipresent influence of Stephen Sondheim. 
• Luigi Galvani, the Italian electrical scientist who (may have) inspired Frankenstein.
  

 

►The Wanderer◄

• A visit to Rüstem's Bookshop, Cyprus's historic bookstore-café.
• Point Nemo, a spacecraft cemetery that's two miles under the Pacific Ocean.
• Pemberley, Manderley, and Howards End: the real buildings behind fictional houses.
• Ominous beach settings in fiction.
• A behind-the-scenes look at the new Museum of the American Latino.
• Tasmania: crime writing at the bottom of the world.
• Mary Shelley's former London apartment is for sale.
• Mail arrives weekly in Hells Canyon.

 

►More Best of 2021 Book Lists◄

• CrimeReads' Best International Crime Novels of 2021.
• CrimeReads' Best Historical Fiction of 2021.
• The New Yorker: The Best Books We Read in 2021.
• The Wall Street Journal: The Best Mysteries of 2021.
• Kirkus Reviews: The Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021.
• AudioFile's Best Audiobooks of 2021.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The ten topics everyone was googling in 2021.
• Six toy crazes that erupted in violence. (Oh, have I got a Tickle Me Elmo story!)
• The best festive revels in literature.
• Cozy crime, cookbooks, and a surprise hit: what Guardian readers have really read in the pandemic.
• A comparison of the ten tallest skyscrapers in the world.
• Fifty notable African books of 2021.
• Books in which cozy protagonists are on the move.
• Three banned Saudi novels everyone should read.
• Forty-four writers on their favorite books to give as presents.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book.

Happy Holiday Hugs for You All!

Many Deadly Returns edited by Martin Edwards

 

First Line from the Introduction: Many Deadly Returns celebrates the twenty-first birthday of Murder Squad and showcases the range of our fiction.

 

Many Deadly Returns contains twenty-one short stories written by nine past and present members of Murder Squad, a group of midlist crime writers based in the north of England.

Several of the writers showcased in this anthology were familiar to me: Ann Cleeves, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, John Baker, Stuart Pawson, and Cath Staincliffe. Others, like Chris Simms, Margaret Murphy, and Chaz Brenchley, I met for the first time. That's something every good anthology should do: give you more of the familiar yet introduce you to the new.

The stories run the gamut from sly and humorous to grim and heartbreaking. Three of my favorites? Chris Simms' "Skeleton Crew" is set in a garbage dump and features a man who doesn't know how to leave well enough alone. Kate Ellis' "The Confessions of Edward Prime" is about a young man who likes to come into the police station to confess to each new crime as it's reported. And Margaret Murphy's "Still Life" is about a man with locked-in syndrome and the young girl who's repulsed by him. 

There's not a bad'un in the bunch; there's something to be enjoyed in each of these short stories. From great turns of phrase ("He was more simian than sapiens.") to O. Henry-like twists and other feats of plotting and characterization, Many Deadly Returns is a pleasure to read. Not only did I enjoy reading the ones by my favorite authors, but I also found new authors to read. Pardon me while I go look up their books...

 

Many Deadly Returns edited by Martin Edwards

eISBN: 9781448305575

Severn House © 2021

eBook, 194 pages

Short Story Anthology

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Casa Kittling Dressed Up for the Holidays

In past years, I've decorated what I called my Christmas Forest. You can take a look at these earlier day and night posts. However, when trusted body parts are no longer trustworthy, some things have to be cut back. My Christmas decorating is one of the victims. In a rather odd way, I'm enjoying decorating less. In past years when I put up thirteen trees (my lucky number), I got in the habit of putting up the same decorations in the same way every year. That doesn't happen now. Even though I've greatly reduced the amount of decorations I do have, I still have plenty so that I can "rotate the stock" and do things a bit differently from one holiday season to the next. 

Denis and I have been enjoying this year's decorations, me more so because my HQ has moved from the office to the living room. As in years past, my overall theme for Christmas is Reflections. Reflections both in the play of light and in the play of memory. I've gathered up a collection of highlights of this year's decorations. I hope you enjoy them.

As you come in the front door.

Looks like the birds built some snowmen this year.

The living room by day. As you can see, I'm fond of quilts. I really like how the fireplace turned out this year-- especially the set of antique sleigh bells that I wove holly sprigs through.

There are three special knitted afghans on the daybed where I relax every afternoon. The red and white one is the first one my mother ever made. The burgundy one is a gorgeous Irish knit one, the second Mom made, and the white one (another fabulous Irish knit) was the last one she made. She gave it to my grandmother, who saved it for "Best" (which means she never used it). I'm using it!

As you can tell, the tea & coffee station is well used.

The large caroler set Mom made. It's not Christmas without this particular set being out on display.

I love firelight and candlelight.

I also like what I did for the tablescape this year.

It's been too long since the last time I displayed any of my finial collection.

I love my finial collection.

Another thing I love? The way the lights play on the tatted and crocheted snowflakes made for me by my grandmother and two special friends.

The Christmases I've experienced have run the gamut from wild and festive to quiet and contemplative. But whether they've been filled with friends or if I've been alone, I've always found something magical about them. Just looking at the reflections can take my mind miles and years away.

Happy Holidays to You All!