two mysteries
After spending several days last week slogging through The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a good book that's about a hundred pages too long, I then quickly burned through opposing prepositions with Under World, by Reginald Hill, and Over the Shoulder: A Novel of Intrigue, by Leonard Chang.
Under World is the 3rd book in the Inspector Pascoe and Superintendent Dalziel series. I won't bother to review it because, while there are at least 8 more in the series, I think I've had enough. I read mystery series because I like the characters. I spent much of Under World hating one of the main characters in it, and strongly disliking one of the potential villains. While I might try one more just for utter fairness (one of my distinguishing characteristics and utter failings in life is a willingness to give far too many chances), I think I'll be taking Mr. Hill off of my reading list.
Leonard Chang's mystery, however, was a nice surprise. It had flaws, mostly the all-too-common phenomenon of having some juiced up reason to not go to the cops for help and therefore ending up in a stupid situation, but I liked the protagonist a fair bit and I liked Mr. Chang's style of writing. The plot had enough twists to stay interesting, it's set in the San Francisco Bay area (it's fun to read books that happen in familiar locales), and there's enough self-reflection to make it more than a cheesy mystery. This is good. Why? Because Over the Shoulder was not originally on my reading list. It got there when I found out it is the precursor to Underkill, which is on the list. Given the character explanation & development that happens in Over the Shoulder, I'm really glad I decided to read them in order!
Now that I've finished those off, I have three books left from my most recent library runs. (Okay, four, but I decided I'm only going to skim Hell Hath No Fury: Womens Letters from the End of the Affair). From my main reading list is The Winter Queen: a novel by Boris Akunin. Also in the stack are two mysteries by Laurence Shames. A few weeks ago I picked up Florida Straits for a fast, light-hearted read. It was everything I was hoping for and a little more, so the next time I was at the library I snagged Sunburn and The Naked Detective (how could I resist that title?). Thus does my reading list never shrink but only grow.
Which isn't quite true. I quit adding books to my reading lists a few months ago, so other than the mysteries by Shames (and a few romance novels, which for me are part of the formula for staying sane), I've been steadily chipping away it. Next up? Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell is waiting for me at the library. And sometime soon I should check to see how I'm coming on the 50 book challenge, but I believe I'm in pretty good shape.
Under World is the 3rd book in the Inspector Pascoe and Superintendent Dalziel series. I won't bother to review it because, while there are at least 8 more in the series, I think I've had enough. I read mystery series because I like the characters. I spent much of Under World hating one of the main characters in it, and strongly disliking one of the potential villains. While I might try one more just for utter fairness (one of my distinguishing characteristics and utter failings in life is a willingness to give far too many chances), I think I'll be taking Mr. Hill off of my reading list.
Leonard Chang's mystery, however, was a nice surprise. It had flaws, mostly the all-too-common phenomenon of having some juiced up reason to not go to the cops for help and therefore ending up in a stupid situation, but I liked the protagonist a fair bit and I liked Mr. Chang's style of writing. The plot had enough twists to stay interesting, it's set in the San Francisco Bay area (it's fun to read books that happen in familiar locales), and there's enough self-reflection to make it more than a cheesy mystery. This is good. Why? Because Over the Shoulder was not originally on my reading list. It got there when I found out it is the precursor to Underkill, which is on the list. Given the character explanation & development that happens in Over the Shoulder, I'm really glad I decided to read them in order!
Now that I've finished those off, I have three books left from my most recent library runs. (Okay, four, but I decided I'm only going to skim Hell Hath No Fury: Womens Letters from the End of the Affair). From my main reading list is The Winter Queen: a novel by Boris Akunin. Also in the stack are two mysteries by Laurence Shames. A few weeks ago I picked up Florida Straits for a fast, light-hearted read. It was everything I was hoping for and a little more, so the next time I was at the library I snagged Sunburn and The Naked Detective (how could I resist that title?). Thus does my reading list never shrink but only grow.
Which isn't quite true. I quit adding books to my reading lists a few months ago, so other than the mysteries by Shames (and a few romance novels, which for me are part of the formula for staying sane), I've been steadily chipping away it. Next up? Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell is waiting for me at the library. And sometime soon I should check to see how I'm coming on the 50 book challenge, but I believe I'm in pretty good shape.