Pick of the Litter: To Marry an English Lord

One of the things that makes this entire book-loving community so wonderful is its diversity. I love crime fiction. Mix in a splash of dystopian fiction, a pinch of historical fiction, a flake of biography, a seed of time travel, and a dash of history, and I'm in Nirvana.

One thing that's guaranteed is that my Nirvana is someone else's idea of Hell, and you know what? Neither one of us is wrong.

At one point I had over 4,000 books on 28 bookcases in this house. I was running out of room, and I'd made myself a promise that I would never go back to having piles of books on the floor and every other flat surface available. (I also refuse to doublestack.)

That's one of the main reasons why I joined Paperback Swap. I could maintain a steady stream of the books I wanted into the house, but at the same time, I was weeding out my books shelf by shelf.

I now have a little over 3,000 books in the house, and you know what? I know that the thought of me getting rid of at least 1,000 books is like a dagger in the heart to some of you. If I could, I'd invite y'all over for a weekend's Weed-a-Thon, but I can't.

Moving right along, I thought that it might be fun, from time to time, to show you one of the books on my shelves that will never be weeded out, swapped out, sold, or donated. This is the real purpose behind Pick of the Litter. Hopefully I'll choose a book that appeals to you and makes you try to find it at your local library or to buy your own copy. The genres will vary from one post to the next, and so will the age of the book.

It was fun to make my first choice:


Title: To Marry an English Lord or, How Anglomania Really Got Started
Authors: Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
ISBN: 9780894809392
Publisher: Workman Publishing, 1989
Trade Paperback, 416 pages

In the years following the American Civil War, there were industrialists and financiers who were making money by the pot full. Unfortunately snobs were in control of New York City, and the snobs were insisting that these nouveau riche be kept out of all the right sort of places.

Many of these new millionaires had darling daughters, and what father doesn't want his daughter to make a brilliant marriage? If the blue bloods on Fifth Avenue were turning up their noses at their little girls, there was only one thing to do: take them someplace where (1) they would be appreciated, and (2) where even more brilliant marriages were to be found.

Since most Americans always have been a bit lax about speaking languages other than English, England was The Place for American heiresses to go in search of Happy Ever After. In 1895 alone, nine American heiresses married into the British peerage (among them a duke, an earl, three barons and a knight).

What MacColl and Wallace do with such finesse and delight is tell us just how these young women traded dowries for titles. This is one of the first books I remember owning that is filled with essays, sidebars, fact-filled boxes, anecdotes, portraits, drawings, and photographs.


Sometimes I get certain feelings about a book, and the feeling I got from To Marry an English Lord was that the two authors had a blast writing this book and gathering together all the materials. Reading this was a joyful experience for me. Popular social history is one of my favorite genres, and this book is a wonderful example. Not only did I have fun while reading it, but I learned a great deal, and went on to use the bibliography to learn more. If this subject interests you at all, I urge you to find a copy of this book and read it.

As for my own copy, it's staying right here with me. It's my Pick of the Litter.

Weekly Link Round-Up-- Heading Into Dog Days?

Maybe it's me, or maybe we're heading into the dog days of summer. I could actually keep up with the posts in my Google Reader, and since I subscribe to 600 blogs (give or take a dozen) that must mean summer has sung her siren call. I'm not complaining. It's nice to open up the old GR and not see that I have over 1000 unread posts!

Let's see how that's affected the links I was able to gather, shall we?

Bookish News & Other Stuff

• I never tire of looking at photos of bookstores around the world: 9 of the Most Amazing Bookstores in the World.
• I love how this article begins: "There is a definite art to filling bookshelves."
• Kicking back with a good e-reader.
• I also never tire of looking at photos of bookshelves: Book Lovers Never Go to Bed Alone.
• Martha Stewart just earned a couple of Brownie points: instructions for making Waterproof Book Covers. It's a good thing....
• Even though I don't do it anymore, I still like reading about Marginalia.
• Not that I'm weird or anything, but I don't like book lights that clip to the book. I like mine fastened to my head somehow. If I were able to figure out how to do that with this model, I might get my own series on the Syfy channel.
• I guess you can make a living by stealing and reselling books. At least these two men in Seoul, South Korea did.

Blogging Tips

• What to do if your blog is dropped from Google search.

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

• Margot at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist would like to know which mystery author got us hooked on reading mysteries.
• Hilarious cartoon about Digital Book Signings on Type M for Murder.
• Kris on Not Enough Books will be showcasing a new feature called Strut Your Shelves. I'm hoping lots and lots and lots of folks participate!

New to My Google Reader

• Awful Library Books
• Feed Your Reading Habit
• Books Love Me!
• LindyLouMac's Book Reviews
• Whispering Gums
• Man of La Book
• BookBound

That's it for this week. I'm going to bed now and read more of the latest book in one of my favorite series, The Morland Dynasty. Hopefully we'll get a bit more rain tonight because one of my favorite things to do is to lie in bed and listen to it rain. (A rare occurrence here in the desert!)

Hopefully a link or two has tickled your fancy. Don't forget to stop by next Friday for another fresh batch of links for your surfing pleasure. See you then!

Liars Anonymous by Louise Ure

Title: Liars Anonymous
Author: Louise Ure
ISBN: 9780312375867
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2009
Hardcover, 288 pages
Genre: Suspense
Rating: C
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: I got away with murder once, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen again.

Roadside assistance operator Jessie Dancing receives a call from a driver in Tucson who sounds as if he's being murdered. Not content to let the police handle the situation, Jessie takes a copy of the tape to the driver's wife who tells her that her husband is very much alive. Taking some time off from her job in Phoenix, Jessie finds that being home in Tucson is bringing her past back to haunt her-- a past that includes being acquitted for murder. During the course of her own investigation, a young woman Jessie meets near the site of the driver's phone call is blown up in her car, and Jessie is once more dealing with a world in which guilt and innocence are both slightly out of focus.

Ure is no stranger to the Sonoran Desert, as you can see from passages like this:

The steering wheel on Bonita's car was so hot that I wished I had oven mitts. It wasn't supposed to be this hot in September. We should have been on Simmer by now, not Deep Fry. I guided the VW to the freeway with a delicate two-finger grip that would at least cut down on the number of blisters.

Two fingers, Jessie? I've learned to drive with one fingertip! (That way only one fingerprint is burned beyond recognition.)

I enjoy Ure's writing for the setting and for the convoluted plots centered around one very conflicted main character. The more I read about Jessie, the more I realized just how damaged she was. For most people, the setting, the pacing, the plot and the main character are going to be strengths leading to enjoyable reads.

In my case, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to agree to disagree. I can see all these good things as I read, but in Ure's last two books, The Fault Tree and here in Liars Anonymous, she's created two conflicted characters that drive me crazy. The main character in The Fault Tree was raised to accept blame for everything that happened. It didn't take long for me to stop feeling compassionate and to start wanting to tell her to put on her big girl panties and deal with it. I had roughly the same reaction to Jessie in this book. Jessie's childhood somehow seemed to teach her that no one was going to listen to her, and if she saw wrong being done, she was going to have to take care of it herself. However, it's never a good idea to take the law into your own hands, no matter how much Jessie disagrees with me.

While I found Jessie to be exasperating and infuriating, that doesn't mean you will. Louise Ure is an excellent writer who is skilled at intricate plots and interesting characters. Don't be afraid to give her a try just because the resident curmudgeon at Casa Kittling is sometimes easily irritated!

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

Title: A Beautiful Place to Die
Author: Malla Nunn
ISBN: 9781416586210
Publisher: Washington Square Press, 2009
Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, Police Procedural, #1 Emmanuel Cooper
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

First Line: Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper switched off the engine and looked out through the dirty windscreen.

It is 1952. The apartheid laws have just been enacted in South Africa. Jacob's Rest is a small town on the border of South Africa and Mozambique. When the local police chief's body is found, Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is sent-- all by himself-- to the town to solve the crime. He soon discovers why he was sent alone: the Security Branch has been dispatched to take control of the investigation. It takes less than 1% of Cooper's deductive reasoning to see that the Security Branch has its heart set on a black communist murderer, and its officers will stop at nothing to procure this result.

The presence of the Security Branch's thugs means that Cooper's job is going to be extremely difficult, but his boss wants him to continue to dig. As Cooper questions people of all races and social strata in Jacob's Rest, he begins to see that the murdered Captain Pretorius wasn't the man he appeared to be, but bringing the killer to justice might mean his death by Security Branch means or igniting a powder keg of racial tension... or both.

This book was extremely difficult to put down, and I probably pouted a time or two when I was forced to stop reading. With seemingly very little effort, Nunn transported me right in the middle of apartheid South Africa-- and I didn't like it. I was so involved in what I was reading that I felt as if one wrong word, one incorrect facial expression, would find me thrown in one of their jails. I love reading books that have such an immediacy to them-- even when it makes me uncomfortable.

The primary characters were well-drawn and multi-faceted. The more I learned about them, the faster I read because they oftentimes surprised me. A few of the secondary characters seemed a bit two-dimensional, but as far as I'm concerned when you're a bigot who only knows how to spout hatred and the party line, you don't always deserve that extra dimension.

Malla Nunn has the gift of perfect description in a mere line or two. Here are some examples:

"A knot of three white men stood farther up the riverbank and took turns drinking from a battered silver flask. They were big and meaty, the kind of men who would pull their own wagons across the veldt long after the oxen were dead."

"They look like they can beat a confession out of a can of paint."

"There was the quiet murmur of Zulu before a pencil-thin woman in a yellow dress gave a shout and ran for the Packard. Emmanuel stilled as the woman hauled the miner into a sitting position in the backseat and wailed out loud. The sound was an ocean of sorrows."

I also enjoyed the complexity of the mystery. As soon as I thought I'd solved something, Nunn (through Cooper) either set me on my ear or showed me that there was more to the case than I'd originally believed. I'm going to be very surprised if this book isn't among my Top Ten Reads of the year.

Nunn's next book in the series, Let the Dead Lie, is now out. Do you know how difficult it is for me to leave it alone? I thought you bookaholics would understand!

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

Scene of the Blog Featuring Courtney of Stiletto Storytime!

This week's featured blogger illustrates the power of Twitter. As any blogger who hosts a weekly feature can tell you, it's not always easy. I run into a roadblock from time to time, and had done so a month ago. I broadcast my woes on Twitter, my cries for help were re-tweeted by friends, and within minutes I had enough volunteers for six weeks' worth of posts. Hallelujah!

Courtney of Stiletto Storytime is one of the book bloggers who came to my aid, bless 'er! To be honest, I wasn't familiar with her blog, so you know I had to take a look immediately. I was impressed. Although stilettos are synonymous with death traps for me, I had to admit that the blog name is catchy. The hook became more firmly embedded when I read this on her About Me page:

Why Stiletto Storytime? Well a colleague of mine joked about my shoes when I first started as a librarian and it kind of stuck. Needless to say I am the kind of librarian who feels that you don’t have to wear clogs, Birkenstocks with socks or old lady flats to fit the job description. I can do storytime in heels….and with style!

When I began reading her content, I was a convert. Her writing style, her enthusiasm, and what she has to say makes Stiletto Storytime worth coming back to again and again. If you've never visited Courtney's blog, please stop by and say hello!

Now it's time to hear from Courtney and see where she does her blogging. Don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size!

To be honest there have been many “scenes of the blog” since I started in late 2007. It all began at a public library reference desk where I worked as a children’s librarian and then moved home with me after the birth of my son in 2009. Currently about 75% of my blogging is done at my desk. Which is pretty simple, cheerful, personalized with photos of my family and has everything I need. Most of the time this includes a one year old hanging off my leg as well. I share an office with my husband but we both have recognized the need for separate spaces, desks and computers. Makes for a good marriage, I highly recommend it.

I try to stay very organized since I review not only for my site Stiletto Storytime but also for the New York Journal of Books. I keep separate shelves for all received ARCs as well as a calendar for release dates, upcoming features, interviews and posts. This keeps me generally on track. I also keep an excel sheet for all books that I have requested, received or reviewed. Like I said I like to stay organized.

I am also never without my trusty book journal. I am in love with my Moleskine and use it to keep pretty detailed records on everything I read. I write down quotes I enjoy, notes on the writing, when I post about it and where. I also rate the book in my journal however I do not use a rating system on my blog. I am about to be on my second journal for the year but I really enjoy keeping track of the books I read and how they make me feel. I’m not real big on writing in books for the most part (must be a librarian thing).

Now for my secret confession: the other 25% of the time, I am a bed blogger. That’s right you heard me. In fact I am writing this from my bed right now! Of course my current book and trusty book journal have come along with the laptop and me. We are quite snuggled in for a long read and a bit of blogging. I have no shame! I am proud to be a bed blogger. I also blog in my jammies too! When you have a one year old creating daily havoc often right before bed is the only time you get to do much of anything. And so off to bed…and blog! Thanks for visiting the “scene of my blog”.

“Remember just like stilettos, reading is always in style.”

Where to begin, where to begin? Courtney and I both prefer being organized down to our shelves and journals. Her desk is next to a window for light and view, and I want that Jane Austen action figure! Each of her creative spaces looks so calm and serene... so conducive to thought and inspiration. Never in a gazillion years would I dream that this woman has a one-year-old in the house!

Thank you so very much for this glimpse into your creative spaces, Courtney. We really appreciate it!

Who will be the next guest on Scene of the Blog? Stop by next Wednesday to see!

Wordless Wednesday-- Twofer

Click to view full size. More Wordless Wednesday.

The Exile of Sara Stevenson by Darci Hannah

Title: The Exile of Sara Stevenson
Author: Darci Hannah
ISBN: 9780345520548
Published by: Ballantine Books, 2010
Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C+
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers program

First Line: Somebody once told me that every tower had a ghost, and every ghost had a story.

Nineteen-year-old Sara Stevenson is the daughter of famed lighthouse builder, Robert Stevenson. In many ways, she's the typical spoiled young woman, used to a life of being pampered in the family home in Edinburgh. She knows what she wants, and she usually wants it yesterday. Unfortunately her latest heart's desire has gotten her in trouble.

Sara has fallen in love with handsome young seaman Thomas Crichton. Crichton is missing, and she's pregnant. Her normally indulgent parents are not amused. Sara is exiled to the very remote lighthouse at Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly corner of the British mainland. She is accompanied by her maid (who betrayed her) and her maid's husband. Once at the lighthouse, Sara finds the keeper, William Campbell, to have more than his fair share of quirks and strange behavior.

As time passes, Sara meets and makes friends with some of the locals, learns to do a bit of cooking and cleaning, and begins to appreciate the rugged land on which she lives. Although Crichton never appears, she still loves him and won't hear a word against him, even though she eventually begins to have feelings for someone else. As the days pass, she corresponds with a rather strange antiquarian in Oxford, and when she learns about her parents' plans for her baby, she writes to ask him for help. She learns that he has quite an obstacle to surmount before he can arrive on Cape Wrath.

The major reason why I picked up this book is because of the title. A few years ago, I read an excellent book, The Lighthouse Stevensons by Bella Bathurst, which is ostensibly about Sara's father. I was a bit uneasy about an author giving a fictional daughter to a real person, especially when the character based upon the real person behaves very differently from historical record. Once I started reading, it was simple for me to keep in mind that this, after all, was fiction.

Hannah proved to be very skilled in bringing the remote setting of Cape Wrath to life, and the character of Sara lived and breathed. During the times she behaved like a spoiled young miss, I just wanted to slap her. I was wheeling right along enjoying the setting, the story and the characters when the ending came along and threw a spanner in the works. You may or may not have noticed the "paranormal" tag I put on this review. The ending of the book involves a love that transcends time as well as time travel.

I love well-done time travel. It's one of my favorite genres. However, as it is handled in this book, it felt clunky and cumbersome, and I simply couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to buy into it. The love of Crichton and Sara also didn't qualify in my mind as a love that transcends time because we weren't allowed to see enough of Crichton before his disappearance.

Minus the paranormal elements and the romance, I really enjoyed this novel. Something tells me that, although I didn't care for the way those two elements were handled, many others will. That doesn't bother me. Hannah shows a great deal of promise, and I will definitely look for more of her writing.

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

How Curious Are You?

You Are Very Curious

It may be true that curiosity killed the cat, but you're betting on nine lives. You would love to live as many lives as possible, because that way you could see the whole world. Your relish new experiences, and novelty is a huge draw for you. You always have your eyes open for the latest thing. Why settle for ordinary when you can have extraordinary? You'll always choose to take a risk! How Curious Are You?

By the Pricking of My Thumbs...

My Wordless Wednesday choice (seen at left) seemed to have teased several of you last week. You were of the opinion that this house could tell a story or two. It undoubtedly could, and I thought it deserved to have a little more said about it.

In April 2007, Denis and I rented a beautiful place just past the outskirts of the lovely village of Riseley in Bedfordshire, England. The location was ideally suited because it was close to several family members. For the week we were there, we drove along the High Street through the village at least twice each day, and I fell in love with the homes I could see. One day, I spent a good portion of one afternoon walking up one side and down the other of the High Street taking one photo after another and wearing out a set or two of camera batteries.

Of all the wonderful houses along Riseley's High Street, this one-- the "Orange House"-- spoke to me the most. I don't know anything of its history, but I thought you'd enjoy seeing more photos of the place. As always, all you have to do is click on each photo to view it full size, and I hope that you do, or you'll be missing tons of details.

The first photo of the Orange House you see at the top is the way it looks as you're heading out of Riseley toward Coldham Farm where we were staying (in cottage #5). In this next photo to the right, you'll see that it looks almost completely different as you're driving into the village. In this photo, it looks like a group of several separate buildings, and that's exactly what it is.

As you walk into the village, one of the first of the buildings you can see is half-timbered and looks as though it might have had something to do with stabling horses, with possibly a hayloft above. You can see a glimpse of another building behind it and to the left. In front of it is a good-sized thatched cottage, and although I know the place has to be dark inside, that new window just doesn't look right on that outside wall. What do you think?

As I continued to walk up to the front of the Orange House, I was trying to get photos from as many different angles as I could. Sometimes this involved walking back and forth across the High Street. Since I did this the entire length of the street, I just might have been the topic of conversation at the Fox and Hounds that evening.

The front of the Orange House shows you the different buildings and differing roof lines: brick, half-timbered, thatch, tile. Since a brick and tile works was in Riseley from the sixteenth century, I can't help but wonder if this place is made from local materials.

There was no help for it but to walk back across the road and go up to the gate. It was April, flowers were beginning to bloom. An area of old cobbles separated the two buildings in the front and led almost all the way to the building in back, which from its style was probably stables for horses. I loved the decorative pattern in tiles on its roof. The materials may be plain, but what is built from them doesn't have to be. All that's needed is a bit more time, the skill and the desire.

You can also see from this picture the lovely little stained glass window on the wall to the left. You can also see something else that just isn't common in the United States: when you live in a house that's truly old, none of the walls are straight and true. Time and gravity take their toll. The thatched cottage to the left has a wall that looks very bowed, and it's not a trick of light or angle. No matter how crooked, I never once had the feeling that this building would topple down.

Something that can't be seen in the photo above is the window to the left. You can see the merest hint of the windowsill just above the ivy, but that's it. In that window was an old blue glass bottle with a cork stopper and a very attentive black cat. I looked at the bench and the bird feeder outside. I looked at the blue bottle and the black cat.

Instead of walking through the gate and knocking on the door as I'd originally wanted, I came back to the pavement and walked past the house. There was a lovely wattle fence and flowers in bloom, and perhaps the most interesting elevation of the Orange House.

Look at that beam separating the first and second floors (or ground floor from first floor... this having one foot in the USA and one in the UK can be tricky once in a while). Not the straightest thing you've ever seen, is it? And those old windows with the small leaded panes-- and how about my favorite? See that door that goes to nowhere? Come home from the pub a bit worse for wear, and it might be a tad dangerous to leave the lights off while flinging open a door and stepping outside!

I hope you agree with me that the Orange House is a fascinating collection of old, old buildings. I would certainly love to learn its history. It's right on the edge of town and with the back buildings looking so much like stabling, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was originally a coaching inn.

Now... you may still be wondering about something I said earlier. If I wanted to walk through that gate and knock on the door, why didn't I?

Because I suddenly began feeling very uneasy, and the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. I can't help it. When something tells me to walk away, I do.

Was the trip back to the Orange House worth it? Would you like to see my journey down the rest of Riseley High Street?

Mailbox Monday-- Trying to Hold Back the Tide

It won't be long before it goes on tour, but right now my favorite weekly meme is still at home on Marcia's blog, The Printed Page. I love to visit participating blogs to see what books arrived in their mailboxes in the past week. If you'd like to take a look for yourself, just click on that redhead to the left. She'll take you right to the heart of the action. Thanks, Marcia!

This past week has been nice and warm and sticky, with one monsoon storm that flooded the yard. We need the rain, and water doesn't hurt desert landscaping, so I'm not complaining. (I would've if it had flooded the swimming pool!)

I managed to send out 5 books to new Paperback Swap (PBS) foster homes, and I received 5. Four of them were from fellow PBS members, but one was a win from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program that I don't even remember requesting.

Let's take a look at what the mail carrier delivered to me, shall we?

1. The Loud Adios by Ken Kuhlken (PBS). "This brooding, atmospheric tale set during WW II stirs a heady brew of corruption, Nazis, a blameless young girl and a fortune in gold. PI Tom Hickey, drafted in his late 30s and deserted by a wife who deems him both too honorable and too poor, agrees to help young soldier Clifford Rose rescue his beautiful but simpleminded young sister, Wendy, from the Tijuana dive where she dances nude. Hickey, an MP stationed at the border crossing near San Diego, Calif., has useful connections. But the mission is complicated by the sinister Senor Zarp, a Nazi thug using Wendy in certain bloody rites designed to bolster the local German populace and corrupt Mexican officials in their support of the fatherland. Freeing Wendy, Clifford is killed and Hickey finds himself the guardian of an otherworldly innocent to whom he is painfully attracted. When she tells him about a mountain of gold being held by Zarp and an obscenely wealthy Mexican family, Hickey, with the aid of a few poor Indian laborers, decides to commandeer the loot and derail a Nazi invasion scheme."
2. Pray and Die by Stella Whitelaw (Amazon Marketplace). "Someone has to investigate the mean streets of Latching, West Sussex -- and that someone is ex-policewoman Jordan Lacey, now advertising her services as a private investigator and working out of a junk shop in the quiet part of town. But will there really be enough crime to keep her in business? It looks like there is when Lacey discovers the body of a dead nun in an abandoned hotel."
3. A Little Death in Dixie by Lisa Turner (LibraryThing Early Reviewers). "One of Memphis' most seductive and notorious socialites has vanished. Either she's off on another drunken escapade or the disappearance is something much more frightening. What begins as an ordinary day's work for Detective Billy Able quickly grows into a complex spider's web of tragedy, mystery, suspicion, and sordid secrets including a few of Billy's own. With the help of Mercy Snow, the estranged sister of the missing socialite, Billy follows a twisted trail of human frailty and corruption to disturbing truths that undermine everything he thought he knew about himself and the people he loves."
4. Z4ck by Kevin Milne (PBS). "Duncan Steele has nowhere to run when he creates Z4CK, the means by which he can bypass any network security. Things take a turn for the worse when Duncan is contracted to audit a secure network, finding more than he bargained for. Nervous government agencies, and other foreign powers will do anything to obtain Z4CK. Hunted for a murder he did not commit, Duncan must use all of his hacking skills to survive, and clear his name. Set in Edinburgh the book starts in the year 2031. The world is a different place where Microsoft advertise Linux on Airport bulletin boards."


5. Dog in the Dark by Gerald Hammond (PBS). "This crime novel is set in and around the world of dog breeding. John Cunningham invests in a property in the Lowlands [Scotland] where he can breed and train gun dogs. He makes enemies in the dog breeding world and when murder is committed, he is the prime suspect."

Do any of these titles tickle your fancy? Which ones?

Several books on my PBS wish list are starting to show up, so my mail carrier just might be looking daggers at me again, but at least this week was a "draw"! Now it's time for me to open some browser windows to see what everyone else got. I can't wait!

See you next week on Mailbox Monday!

Top Ten Picks-- Favorite Male Literary Characters

Once again Jillian of Random Ramblings made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Each week, she hosts a meme called Top Ten Picks. Last week, we were asked to list our favorite books made into movies. I couldn't resist that one either.

This week she's asking us about our Top Ten Favorite Male Literary Characters. Many regulars here at Casa Kittling know that I don't always follow the rules. Sometimes I just have to color outside the lines.

This week I will have a list of ten, and all on that list will be male, and all will be literary characters... but they will all be my favorite male crime fiction characters. See? I just have to be different!

Let's see who made the grade (in alphabetical order so none of them get irked with me)....



Jonathan Argyll is one of those endearing, slightly bumbling art dealers who gets to travel the world trying to make the Big Sale whilst solving mysteries, but he's more often found with smart and sexy Flavia di Stefano of the Art Theft Squad in Rome, Italy. He's also got a very wry sense of humor that can slip past you if you're not paying attention. Sense of humor, works of art, Rome, travel. I'll willingly spend some time with Jonathan!

The Raphael Affair is the first book in Iain Pears' Art History series. If you'd like to find out more, click on the book cover!





David Bengu, AKA Detective Kubu, is a tall, rotund black detective in Botswana. Although his nickname means "hippopotamus", it doesn't merely refer to his size. Just like a real hippo, Detective Kubu can be deceptive and deadly.

I would love to have him show me his beloved country, and I would also love to meet his family that he loves so much. Watching him solve a mystery? Icing on the cake!







Former Vietnam tunnel rat, Harry Bosch, is just the detective you want solving your case in the mean streets of Los Angeles. I've been with him since he first appeared on the scene in 1992.

Harry is singlehandedly responsible for reinforcing this one very important thought in my brain:

We all count, or none of us counts.







Former cattle brand inspector, Gabriel Du Pré, plays the meanest fiddle in all of crime fiction. I'd be more than willing to hang out at the Toussaint Saloon just to hear him play. And if he had a really good seat belt on the passenger side of his old police cruiser, I'd even be willing to saddle up and ride with him on an investigation. Especially if I got to meet Bart, Benetsee and the rest of the gang. Oops. You know I wouldn't forget you, Madelaine. Honest!








There's no way on earth I'd miss out on an opportunity to visit Three Pines in Ontario, Canada-- especially if Armand Gamache were there to solve a mystery.

Gamache is, without doubt, one of the kindest and wisest of men... on any police force.









And while I'm on my literary road trip visiting all my favorite guys, if I missed a chance to swing through Absaroka County, Wyoming to see Sheriff Walt Longmire, I'd need to get my head examined. If it was winter, I'd just sit and listen to him spin yarns. And of course I'd insist on scratching Dog's ears and shaking the Cheyenne Nation's hand. I don't know if I'd want to meet Vic. She's been rather grumpy lately, and I wouldn't want to say the wrong thing and set her off.









When I wasn't out and about meeting the other guys, I could always stop in at the office of Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff David Mapstone here in Phoenix. I'd hope he would be working on a cold case involving lots of Phoenix history.










Logan McRae feels like a brother. He has the same sorts of people to work with and the same sorts of work days that I've been known to have. He also has the same dark and twisted sense of humor that I do, so I'm sure that we could tell each other our favorite war stories and crack each other up. We could also work together to pull some tricks on DI Steele.










I'm not about to pass up the chance to go to Sicily to visit Salvo Montalbano, one of my favorite curmudgeons. He and I both tend to be grumpy in the morning, and neither one of us likes idiots.

And of course he'd have to take me to all his favorite beaches and restaurants.








A list like this would not be complete without the seventy-something National Coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun. This slender old man is a master of dealing with bureaucrats, and he's got two of the best assistants in crime fiction: Nurse Dtui and Mr. Geung. He's been known to crack some mighty fine jokes, too.









As I take another look at my top ten favorite male literary characters, I couldn't be more pleased. Yes, I could've stayed in the main channel of the river and talked about Darcy or Rhett Butler or Mr. Rochester and all the rest, but I much prefer this different channel. I've read many chapters in each of these men's lives, and they seem like family to me now. Including them on a special list is like cooking a feast and inviting them all to take a seat at the table.

Now it's time for me to take a look at everyone else's lists. I can't wait!

Weekly Link Round-Up

It's a rare day here in Phoenix: grey and overcast. We did manage to have one monsoon storm this week that flooded the yard (but fortunately not the pool), and it's always amazing to see how quickly the flora in the desert shows its appreciation. Enough of rain, though. Let's get on to the links!

Bookish News & Other Things

• NPR is going to let us vote on the 100 Best Ever Thrillers.
• "Will the last bookstore please turn out the light?", a tongue-in-cheek article from The Globe and Mail.
• Stanford University ushers in the age of bookless libraries. In some things, I will die a dinosaur. Bookless libraries? Say it ain't so, Joe!
  
• An opinion piece that I don't necessarily agree with: Bloggers rush to fill vacuum.
• Explore your local literary community: Reading Local.
• Bookstores around the globe make news: the Changing Hands here in the valley copes without air conditioning; wander around Treehugger Dan's in Budapest; and how about the Globe in Prague?
• A self-storage business determined not to miss an opportunity with book lovers.
• Book Drum: combining "photography, information, maps, video and music to go beyond the pages of the books we love."
• 80 Years of Cover Design from Faber & Faber.
• Historypin: we are what we do.
• The 10 Strangest Things Ever to Happen in a Library.
• Want to help restore America's Gulf? Sign the petition.

Blogging Tips

• 10 Must-Read Blog Traffic Tips.
• Effective Blog Design Tips.
• Not happy with the comment sections of your blog? Here are two alternatives: IntenseDebate and DISQUS.

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

• Changing Reading Habits on Steph Su Reads.
• "If you could give someone any five books to represent what you feel is the best about crime fiction, what would they be?" on Jen's Book Thoughts. (This could be used for any genre, eh?)
• Wondering about zodiac signs, introverts, extroverts and reading on Lynne's Book Reviews.
• Confessions of a recovering Book Hoarder on Book, Line, and Sinker.
• BookBitch makes an excellent point about large print books in her post An Open Letter to the Publishing Industry.
• Like to read mysteries? Head on over to Mysteries and My Musings to vote in her poll.

New to My Google Reader

• burrowers, books & balderdash

That's all for this week. Denis, whose hearing isn't the best after years of testing weapons systems, etc. in the Royal Navy, had tubes put in his ears yesterday. Now he's got infection in both ears. Those antibiotics better work FAST!

Hopefully a few of my gleanings tickled your fancy this week. Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll have a brand-new batch of links for your surfing pleasure!

halfhead by Stuart MacBride

Title: halfhead
Author: Stuart MacBride
ISBN: 9780007298709
Published by: Harper Voyager UK, 2009
Trade Paperback, 376 pages
Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Police Procedural
Rating: B-
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: There's blood everywhere.

I've been known to warn folks that, if they have a low tolerance for gore, they might want to give MacBride's Logan McRae mystery series a miss. That warning would go quadruple for halfhead, a novel set in Glasgow, Scotland in the near future. It's a future firmly based in today's events, but I pray that it never comes to pass. Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:

They call them halfheads: Convicted criminals, surgically mutilated and lobotomised by the State, then sent out do menial jobs in the community so everyone will know what happens when you break the law. There are no appeals, no reprieves, and no one ever comes back. Until now.

Dr Fiona Westfield, one of the most prolific serial killers Glasgow has ever seen, is waking up. Surrounded by blood and death and darkness. And she wants revenge.

William Hunter has risen through the ranks since putting Westfield away; now he's Assistant Network Director, in charge of tech-crimes and police actions. Then a routine murder investigation uncovers an appalling conspiracy.

The vast connurb blocks on Glasgow's deprived south side are about to explode: eleven years ago the VR riots killed millions - now someone wants to start them all over again. And Will is being dragged back into a past he desperately wants to forget.

See what I mean? This world isn't pretty. Not even close. It's a world of Compressed Urban Habitation in which as many people as possible are crammed in as small a living space as possible. It's a world where the masses are kept tractable by continuous feeds of VR-- virtual reality. There are high tech weapons and high tech transportation, and lots of crime.

Even without reading about this book on MacBride's website, I would've known that this is his first novel, and that the Logan McRae mysteries that I love came later. Why? The plot and the action are very good, but the gore factor is so over the top that one scene in particular made me ill (and I'm not squeamish). The characters show depth, but MacBride's trademark twisted, dark sense of humor feels as though it's slipped a gear; it just doesn't quite work. Perhaps it was because the tone of the book was so unrelentingly grim and horrific, but I barely cracked a smile at the humorous bits, let alone laughed out loud.

Although the various elements don't always work smoothly, I did find halfhead fascinating for its view of what the future may hold, and for the simple fight of good against evil. However, if you're not in the mood for a huge slab of tough, extremely rare steak, I'd leave this one alone and stick with MacBride's Logan McRae books.

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.

Shark Island by Joan Druett

Title: Shark Island
Author: Joan Druett
ISBN: 9780312334567
Published by: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #2 Wiki Coffin mystery
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: The hours were dragging.

It could be that I love well-written books about the sea because there are so many sailors in the family. (I even married an ex-submariner.) New Zealand author Joan Druett has long been one of my favorites for maritime history. When I discovered that she'd begun writing a historical mystery series based on the travels of the United States South Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838 to 1842, I was thrilled. What a perfect movable feast of a setting for a mystery series! If you're one of the many who've never heard of this American expedition, here are a few words about it from Joan Druett herself:

...huge tracts of the ocean had been charted, plus 800 miles of scarcely known Oregon shore and 1,500 miles of entirely unknown Antarctic coast. The Stars and Stripes had fluttered off the lagoons of well over 200 tropical islands, and more than 4,000 artifacts and 2,000 scientific specimens had been collected, an enormously rich fund that became the foundation of the collection of the new Smithsonian Institution.

As you can see from that small description alone, this is an incredibly rich fishing ground for a mystery series. The detective of the series is half-Maori, half-white Wiki Coffin. Due to his skill in linguistics, he's been hired by the expedition as an interpreter.

In this second book in the series, the ship Wiki is aboard is told to sail to Shark Island off the coast of Brazil to check into an alleged sighting of pirates. When they arrive, they discover a wrecked sealing ship and its crew. They've barely agreed to stay and begin repairs on the ship when its captain is murdered. While the sealing ship is being repaired, Wiki has little choice but to try to find the murderer of the captain... especially since the dead man was the husband of one of Wiki's old flames (who just happens to be on board, too).

I enjoy Druett's writing. She includes so much detail on life aboard ship, on ship repair, on sailing itself, and it's all added so seamlessly into the narrative that I never feel as though I'm reading a gigantic lesson with a quiz to follow at some unspecified date. There is one scene in particular that startled me so badly I almost leapt out of bed (which I thought was a very good thing since I'm so seldom surprised to that degree). The only real quibble I have with the entire book is that the culprit was a bit obvious to me, but it is a very small complaint indeed.

This series is one that I am purposely savoring; reading it very slowly to enjoy the character of Wiki, a wealth of new knowledge, and the settings. If you haven't tried any of Druett's books, I suggest that you do. Non-fiction or historical mystery, you are in for a treat.

Scene of the Blog Featuring Hannah of Word Lily!

If you're new to blogging, I'd like to give you a word of advice: if a stranger visits your blog and leaves a comment on one of your posts, by all means track that stranger down! Chances are very good that you'll find a wonderful new blog to follow (and you'll probably be making a new friend as well).

This is what happened to me. I have no idea when, but Hannah found my blog and left a comment many moons ago. I tracked her down to her own blog, Word Lily, and I've never regretted it.

Hannah's blog is a wonderful blend of the books she reads, the causes she believes in, and the crafts in which she excels. Probably because I dabble a bit in needlepoint, I found myself drooling recently over the yarn in Hannah's Tour de Fleece posts. This is one multi-talented book blogger! Don't forget to stop by Word Lily and say hello!

Let's see where she does her blogging, shall we? Please don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size.

I do most of my blogging in this beat-up, thrifted recliner. You can see my laptop to the side, atop my sewing box — and a knitting project languishes behind the computer, if you look closely. (There's a notebook underneath the computer that I use to make lists of posts I need to write, among other things.)

I also do much of my reading in this chair, with a stack of books awaiting review and my current to-read on the shelf at the other side, along with a tall beverage (usually, as here, water).

One nice thing about this chair's position in the house is that I can usually keep a pretty close eye in Maisie (my 8-month-old Old English Sheepdog) to make sure she's not getting into trouble.

My spinning wheel isn't usually in the living room as it is here, but since this month is the Tour de Fleece (a spin-along held in conjunction with the Tour de France; we spin when they spin) I've been using my wheel every day and so it's just been shuffled around the living room if it's in the way, rather than being carried back to the yarn room after each use.

I love the sewing box, the spinning wheel, the comfy-looking chair with so many books close at hand. I like the light fixture and the glimpse of Hannah's neighborhood in the summer through the window behind the chair.

I wonder if that chain dangling from the ceiling is to a ceiling fan, and if that wonderful white bookcase to the right of the window is a built-in?

I can picture myself sitting in that chair and taking a good look at all those books.

I really enjoy Hannah's photos of her reading and blogging space. It shows a favored spot, a cozy spot... and spot that tells us so much about who Hannah is.

That's one of the reasons why I love Scene of the Blog. The featured book bloggers don't have to be in their photos. Their creative spaces speak volumes about them. All we have to do is look.

Thank you so very much for allowing us this glimpse into your home, Hannah. We really appreciate it!

Don't forget to stop by next Wednesday to see the next featured book blogger on Scene of the Blog!

Wordless Wednesday

Click to view full size. More Wordless Wednesday.

Jade Lady Burning by Martin Limón

Title: Jade Lady Burning
Author: Martin Limón
ISBN: 9781569470206
Publisher: Soho Crime, 2003 (Originally published 1992.)
Trade Paperback, 224 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Sueño & Bascom mystery
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

First Line: Ernie and I finished the black-market case in Pusan, did a little celebrating, and caught the Blue Line night train back to Seoul.

It's not often that you'll see me reading books set in Asia during the Vietnam War era whose main characters are young men more concerned with having fun in the red light district than anything else. But in my quest to be a more complete armchair traveler, I've been branching out. I'd heard good things about Martin Limón's series from trusted sources, and I had the vague notion that these books were about more than two young men spending all their money on wine, women and song in Seoul. I was right.

The bizarre murder of a young Korean prostitute has the Eighth Army command spluttering and twitching. Although the investigation should have been left to the Korean police, the young woman was known to have many clients amongst the American servicemen stationed in and around Seoul. The Korean media would have a field day with this American angle, so the Eighth Army's criminal investigation division takes charge. Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom are put in charge of finding out who murdered the young woman.

Their investigation leads them to Itaewon, the section of Seoul known for alcohol, music and prostitution. It is a neighborhood with which the two are very familiar. Sueño is Hispanic, from East LA. He appreciates the housing, the regular meals, and the pay of Army life. He speaks some Korean and is often told that he's "too soft" on the natives. This is probably because he sees the country differently from most:

I loved Korea. It was a whole new world of different tastes and smells, and a different, more intense way of looking at life. People here didn't take eating and breathing for granted. They were fought for.

He also sees his job differently from most. He doesn't want to focus solely on black market cases, and "phone in" his results. He truly cares:

I owed something to Miss Pak Ok-suk and Mr. Watkins. Not because they were friends or relatives but just because they had been assigned to me: my responsibility. I'd be damned if I'd take the easy route and not do my best for them.

There's a lot to like about Sergeant George Sueño. On the other hand, I felt that his partner, Ernie Bascom, was greatly under-utilized almost to the point of being a non-entity. There was just enough information given about him to lead me to believe I might be looking at a prime crime fiction psychotic.

The pace of the book seemed very leisurely most of the time, but I didn't really mind because Limón had immersed me in a completely alien atmosphere, and I wanted to check everything out slowly. As the two investigators strolled through bars asking questions and sometimes accepting propositions from the prostitutes they talked to, I wasn't concerned with their morals. They were no different than tens of thousands of other young men finding themselves with money in their pockets and light years away from home.

What did concern me was the clipped, almost military flow of the language that transported me into the midst of an absorbing mystery in unfamiliar country-- a mystery populated with interesting people, in particular Sergeant George Sueño. I definitely want to continue with this series, one reason being that I have to find out if I'm right about Ernie Bascom!

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

What Kind of Garden Are You?

You Are a Wildflower Garden

You are a true free spirit. You want to go wherever life takes you, and you feel like plans kill the mood. You are low maintenance and laissez faire. You believe that whatever will be will be, so why try to change it? You love colorful things and colorful people. It's hard to find anything that's too wild for your tastes. You're too laid back to be a total wild child, but you've definitely had your crazier moments!

What Kind of Garden Are You?

The Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge Is Finished!

Book Chick City's Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge is one of the ones I signed up for this year. I agreed to read twelve books that fit the category. It wasn't difficult, since that's my favorite genre to begin with. The twelve books I included in the challenge are listed below and linked to my reviews. Two challenges complete; two more to go!

1. Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage
2. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
3. Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland
4. The White Gallows by Rob Kitchin
5. Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland
6. Murder at Shots Hall by Maureen Sarsfield
7. Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
8. Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari
9. The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe
10. Playing With Bones by Kate Ellis
11. Sink Trap by Christy Evans
12. The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin

Finished! ...the Typically British Reading Challenge, That Is!

A few months ago, I signed up for the "Cream Crackered" level of the Typically British Reading Challenge hosted by Book Chick City. This meant that I agreed to read 8 British books this year. Since I tend to be a bit of an Anglophile, this didn't prove to be difficult, as you can see by the eight books listed below. Each is linked to my review.

1. Murder at Shots Hall by Maureen Sarsfield
2. The Devil's Staircase by Helen FitzGerald
3. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
4. Weeping on Wednesday by Ann Purser
5. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
6. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett
7. Lying Dead by Aline Templeton
8. Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

This now has the dubious honor of being the first reading challenge I've signed up for and completed. I think this calls for a cup of Darjeeling, don't you?