Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

The Series I Read

 
Tracking the Detective Series, and Cozy Mysteries, on My To Read List

This list is, primarily for me.  It's my attempt to look through all of the various series of books that I read, and see "where I left off".  There are some series I read 20 years ago that still have new books being released - but I missed the new releases.  There are others where I read a few, then didn't have access to the next in the series, so I "put it aside", and never got back to them.  

In other words, it's a bit of an attempt to organize my To Read list.  And it will take me awhile.  As I work on this list, I have been making printable "read in order" lists, then checking which books I haven't read, checking the availability of those books... 

Printable Book List - The Enola Holmes Series By Nancy Springer

The Enola Holmes Mysteries is a young adult fiction series of detective novels by American author Nancy Springer, starring Enola Holmes as the 14-year-old sister of an already famous Sherlock Holmes, twenty years her senior.

Printable Book List - The Meg Lanslow Series by Donna Andrews

 
The Meg Lanslow Series by Donna Andrews

I've only ever read a few of these - out of order.  These are my "go to" Holiday Reads at Christmas time, I know they will be light and amusing.  Looking back through the titles, I see that the series starts out MUCH differently than the series I am familiar with today!  I've added the entire list to read list, planning to start from the beginning this time.  

Meg Lanslow is a successful decorative blacksmith and an exceptional amateur sleuth. "She is extremely organized and reliable, with her notebook-that-tell-me-when-to-breathe, and her relatives and friends rely on her as much as they can get away with.   She has forever gotten some vast project foisted upon her, and she always deals with it.    A body generally turns up in the general proximity, and Meg ends up being the one to deal with the police, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.  Partly, even if she doesn't really want to be involved, her sense of responsibility, and the tendency makes it hard for her to resist her curiosity."

Printable Book List - The Sherlock Holmes & Mary Russell Books In Order

 

"In the Mary Russell series (first entry: The Beekeeper's Apprentice), fifteen-year-old Russell meets Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs in 1915, becoming his apprentice, then his partner. The series follows their amiably contentious partnership into the 1920s as they challenge each other to ever greater feats of detection."

January Reads, 2024

 
What I read in January 2024, and a look at what's on my to read list for February

Moby Dick, The Big Read & A Sort of Sequel -

 

The Moby Dick Big Read - each chapter read by a different voice, including those of Nathaniel Philbrick, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir David Attenborough and many others, and also a "sort of sequel" to Moby Dick, new in 2024, by Tara Karr Roberts.  If you like podcasts, there's also a BBC4 In Our Time podcast discussing Moby Dick, at the bottom of this post.

The Short Stories Of Agatha Christie's Sister Madge Miller

 
Magaret 'Madge' Frary [Miller] Watts (1879-1950),
 Painted by Nathaniel Hughes John Baird

Off and on for years, I have searched for the short stories written by Agatha Christie's sister, Madge Miller.  I'm always surprised that they have not been printed in one volume, but so far, I have had no luck locating them at all.  Every few years I do a search, and I have to find  the information to start my search each time..  so this post is really just for me, to remind me of what I am looking for.  If you happen to come across them anywhere, please let me know!

Fig & Pepper Bread

 
Fig & Pepper Bread, From First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Our book club read First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen, this month.
It's a sort of cozy magic story, a nice, light,  fall read.  It's also book 2 in a series, which we didn't know when we chose it.. but it's perfectly fine as a stand alone book.

The book includes a recipe for a bread that is mentioned often - Fig and Pepper Bread.  What an interesting combination..  I was intrigued, so I made a loaf to take to book club.

 Not only is it pretty quick and easy to make, but it's REALLY good.  I love the uniqueness - and the sweetness of the fig really does pair so well with the kick from the pepper.  It's not something I would have ever considered making had it not been for this book, but now that I've made it, I'd definitely make it again!  Especially if I could find fresh figs...  In very rural central Pennsylvania,  I was lucky to find dried figs.  

Halloween Reading List 2023

 
Frankenstein, Dracula, the Salem Witch Trials.  Gothic, Ghosts, Hauntings.
Thrillers, Cozy Mysteries, Historical Fiction. 

I know I won't possibly read all of these this year, I'll likely only get to 4 or 5 of them at most.  But here's a look at the Halloween themed reads that caught my attention this year:

From Penny Dreadfuls to Historical Fiction - Where History Is Lost To Story

 

These days when I finfish a book, the phrase "penny dreadfuls" comes to mind.  That does not mean the book was dreadful.  Quite the opposite! They were often thrilling reads, based on sensational stories. 


  Penny dreadfuls, popular from approximately 1830 into the 1890s a story published in weekly parts of 8 to 16 pages, each costing one penny.   The ‘dreadful’ part derived from the tendency of such works to dwell on murder, robbery and the seamy side of urban life.  In other words, they were not works that educated and uplifted. 

In the 1890s, Alfred Harmsworth began publishing half penny publications, with "more respectable" content.  Originally these were high minded moral tales. But before long, they too became dreadfuls, publishing stories similar to the originals.  So much so that A. A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh, said, "Harmsworth killed the penny dreadful by the simple process of producing the 'ha'penny dreadfuller'".

Over time, the phrase "penny dreadfuls" came to refer to any  time wasting sensationalist fiction.

Today we have a tendency to regard reading as a superior activity, no matter what is being read.  Those of the Victorian Era would not have agreed. That didn't mean they wouldn't read the penny dreadfuls, merely that there was a distinction between quality literature that enhanced the mind, and sensational dreadfuls that merely entertained it.  One hundred years later, that distinction appears to be completely lost.

I read a lot of modern penny dreadfuls.  I love thrillers and murder mysteries.   I also love historical fiction.  More and more frequently however, I become a bit frustrated, because the line is so blurred.  I start out thinking I'm reading an account based on true history, and then find that I'm reading a thrilling tale of adventure and crime, with a mention of a historical event thrown in once or twice.

"Historical Fiction" can mean a lot of things.  I remember my grandmothers bodice ripper paperbacks being referred to as "historical fiction".   Adults around us would use that phrase with a smirk on their face, "Historical Fiction"  meant smut,  plain and simple.   Bodice rippers were  the 1980s version of penny dreadfuls, much more salacious than anyone could have dreamed would be commonly available in print, in 1880.  By definition, those bodice rippers (so named for the photos on the covers)  are true historical fiction. 

"Historical fiction is a literary genre where the story takes place in the past. Historical novels capture the details of the time period as accurately as possible for authenticity, including social norms, manners, customs, and traditions. Many novels in this genre tell fictional stories that involve actual historical figures or historical events."

In other words, I expect too much when I read a book labeled Historical Fiction. 

We need another category.  Something between Non Fiction and Historical Fiction, where the historical events are researched and portrayed accurately, but extra fictional characters are added in, or an additional modern story line is added with historical flashbacks, preserving the integrity of the history.   

The historical fiction most of us are reading today is, in my mind,  more dangerous than the smut our parents were hiding from us 50 years ago.  Todays historical fiction distorts  history completely.  [ahem.... Marie Benedict.  Although perhaps it is unfair to call her out, she's far from alone - she just happens to write about a lot of my favorite Pennsylvania based subjects, and therefore draws my ire more than most.] 

 Actual historical events as we know them have been distorted and sensationalized until  there is no distinction between fact and fiction.   It's hard not to confuse the two even when you have read the historical background.  Stories make an impact, facts are forgotten. That's just our nature.  

We start to believe that we are reading noble, educational,  works, learning as we are entertained, when in fact, we're all reading nothing more than penny dreadfuls.  Even worse, history is being rewritten in our minds, facts completely lost in exchange for salacious stories. 

That seems  unnecessary, when you realize how many salacious stories already fill our factual history. 



2021 In Review - My 5 Favorite Reads

 

Five Of My Favorite Reads in 2021

My favorite genres are history, including both local history books and historical fiction,  and murder mysteries.  In addition to the books below, I also really enjoyed the Hamish Macbeth Series by  M.C. Beaton (I read the Agatha Raisin series by the same author in 2020) and the week between Christmas and New years I read the Midwinter Murders by Agatha Christie.  It's perfect for that time of year, not only because it's a seasonal theme, but because the stories are short, requiring just enough thought to be interesting, but not so much as to be tedious.

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts.  Historical Fiction, very factual, based on the life of Maud Baum, widow of the author of the book The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.  Dual timeline, it switches between Maud's youth as the daughter of a leading suffragette, and her mission to make sure the 1939 movie stayed true to Franks vision.  It was a fantastic read, well done, and very interesting. https://amzn.to/3pCxRlI

Another book for my list of "How did I now know this??"  In 1939, Quintuplets were born in Ontario Canada.  Not only were the babies tiny, but they were born in a little farmhouse with no electricity.  They shouldn't have survived - and yet they did.  And then, In an effort to protect them from hucksters and showmen, the Ontario government took custody of the five identical babies, sequestering them in a private, custom-built hospital across the road from their family — and then, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, proceeded to exploit them for the next nine years. The Dionne Quintuplets became a more popular attraction than Niagara Falls, ogled through one-way screens by sightseers as they splashed in their wading pool at the center of a tourist hotspot known as Quintland. Their faces sold everything from Baby Ruth candy bars to Colgate toothpaste.  The Miracle and Tragedy of Dionne Quintuplets by Sarah Miller is a quick and easy read, based on true events, even though it seems more fantastic than any fiction I read this year.  https://amzn.to/3EIACX0


I first learned about the quintuplets from a mention of them in my absolute favorite fiction series this year - The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache books by Louise Penny.  I've read a couple of these before, out of order, and I have to admit, I never really understood all the fuss.  But consistently, for years,  these are rated as the BEST on every book list I am on.  So this year I started at book 1, and by book 3, I was telling everyone I know that they need to read these books.  Read them in order. It shouldn't matter, but it does. Learning the characters faults and failures, and seeing the mercy and grace that comes out of those faults and failures - it's inspiring in a way you would never expect from a series that is technically murder mysteries.  Absolutely, hands down, my favorite books this year.    Not only have I loved the Gamache books, but reading them has inspired us to check out assorted art and poetry books that came up in the series, as well as things like the Quintuplets story.  I made a sign for our home with one of the quotes from the books - "Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering. There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."  That quote is actually from a song, which introduced us to a new artist...  ( Don't let her recent co-author color your view - it's a completely separate book.  I certainly won't touch that one myself - I am well practiced at keeping politics out of my life.)  

Well, Normally I'm well practiced at keeping politics out of my life.  Another one of my favorites this year did delve a bit into Russian politics in the 1980s.   The Chernobyl disaster occurred on April 25th 1986, but I truthfully knew very little about it.  The book details the reasons behind the explosion, and should probably be read by everyone, so we never allow that history to repeat itself. Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. https://amzn.to/3EBfIZT

For a much lighter read, The Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer was really good!  . There's a tv series based on these that I have not yet seen, but as a lover of all things Sherlock Holmes, I loved these books.  So far I have only read the older ones, but I was happy to see the author took advantage of the fame brought by the tv series to pen two more this year.  https://amzn.to/3406g5u

  

And because I'm terrible at just picking five favorites...  I also loved the Historical Fiction Florence Nightingale Mysteries by Christine Trent https://amzn.to/3qIVybw, Dan and I continued to enjoy the Andy Carpenter series by  David Rosenfelt  on our road trips Light mysteries, funny, but not silly - smart funny. Carpenter is a lawyer, who runs a dog rescue.  He managed to tie in a lot of mafia plots & big conspiracies, all without being silly, nor being too serious.   https://amzn.to/3Hq9Ynk and I have been REALLY enjoying the essays in What The Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell.  I'm really not sure what I think of Gladwell just yet, and I can't say I would fully trust his interpretation of all events, but he has this knack for finding people who think differently, or have unique qualities or experiences.  They make you think, and in a good way, I think. https://amzn.to/3EGOykh

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https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/p/reading.html

Miss Fortune Series - Printable Book List In Order

The Miss Fortune Series By Jana DeLeon is a laugh out loud cozy mystery series.  Fortune Redding is a  CIA assassin,  and her name has been leaked.  She's laying low in Sinful Louisiana, where she gets into more capers than she ever did on the job.

Find the books on Amazon here:
https://amzn.to/3AqfaEv




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Kate Burkholder Series In Order - Printable List

The Kate Burkholder series is about a woman who grew up Amish, left the church, then came back to the town she grew up in, as the Chief of Police.  There, in her hometown,  she now solves brutal crimes in the Amish community. 

 Warning -Many of the murders in this series are quite graphic, but most can be skimmed.  These are not cozy mysteries.

Find the books on Amazon here:
https://amzn.to/2X5S7QV
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Phryne Fisher - Printable List Of Books In Order

The books are all listed nicely on the site above, but printing from that page did not work well for me, so I reformatted a bit.  And then I added a text only version, for those who do not use HP Instant Ink.  

Find the Books on Amazon Here:
Download a PDF of all three check list pages here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gus7dENEDT9i5PMISKTKqHqEgeD4a6Qt/view?usp=sharing
(Just print page 3 if you want to save ink)

Or right click on the images below and choose "save as".


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