schweinsty's 2011 books

Hi! I'm new to actually doing anything on librarything and thought I'd give this a try :).

I'm off to a slow start, but I'm sure I can catch up!

January/February:
1. Making Money
2. A Man Lay Dead
3. Enter a Murderer
4. Black Orchids
5. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

March
6. Sad Cypress
7. Death on the Nile
8. Sparkling Cyanide
9. Gaudy Night
10. Busman's Honeymoon
11. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
12. The Nursing Home Murder

April
13. Maisie Dobbs
14. Murder Must Advertise
15. Hawk and Fisher
16. Winner Take All
17. The God Killer
18. Eagle Strike

May
19. Arson and Old Lace
20. Scorpia
21. End of the Century
22. The Truth about Mr. Darcy
23. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
24. The Trellisane Confrontation
25. The Collected Strangers in Paradise: Volume One
26. Ark Angel
27. I Dream of You
28. It's a Good Life
29. Love Me Tender
30. The Rosary
31. The Whitechapel Horrors

June
32. The Moorland Cottage
33. Snakehead
34. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
35. Faceless Killers
36. Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman
37. A Beautiful Blue Death
38. The Mystery of the Blue Train

July
39. Towards Zero
40. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
41. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
42. Storm Front
43. Murder at Bridge

August
44. Death in a White Tie
45. Artists in Crime
46. Scales of Justice
47. The Three Musketeers
48. The Lightning Thief
49. Beginnings, Middles & Ends

September
50. Cards on the Table

December
51. Wicked Plants

Currently reading:
Nordic Gods and Heroes
The Way Life Should Be
Something Wicked This Way Comes

Glad to see you here!
--BJ

Welcome!

Here is to a year of great reading! :)

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the group!

Welcome! How did you like A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh? Coincidentally, I just put that book on hold at my library. I've not read anything by Marsh before.

Sandy K

Sandykaypax (is there a way to reply directly?)

Honestly, I would not start off with A Man Lay Dead-most Marsh fans I've met think she was able to publish more books in spite of it rather than because :P. I started off reading Artists in Crime and Death in a White Tie - the latter of which I think might be a good starting point, if you don't mind jumping in; it doesn't require a lot of knowledge about previous books, aside from the knowledge that Alleyn is the son of affluent/titled parents. :). It took Marsh a few books to really get good :).

Thanks for the reply and advice about Marsh. I will look for those other titles!

Some mystery series really do require one to start at the beginning, so good to know that I can jump around with this one.

Sandy K

Happy to help! :). There are a *few* that I wouldn't read too far out of order - Artist's in Crime is probably your best bet for a good starting place; it's where the love interest of the series is introduced, so Death in a White Tie might be a bit confusing in that respect.

Well, managed to read two more books while on a car trip today -

5. Sad Cypress
6. Death on the Nile

And I took advantage of the trip to hit up a used bookstore and buy 13 new books (only four of which were mysteries :P)! Of course, now I have to find space for them...:|

Used bookstores and library book sales must be two of the most dangerous places for book lovers. :) A baker's dozen is quite the haul. Hope you enjoy them all.

Haha, I'm not sure whether they're more dangerous for my wallet or my already-groaning bookcases :P. But thank you! I've already started on one, naturally :).

I have Mondays off, thankfully, so I managed to finish Sparkling Cyanide today :D! I'm also working on reviews of DotN and A Man Lay Dead for my new blog and got a bit further on Guards! Guards!.

I think I'll have to set aside Changeless and White Angels for now, though; I can't manage keeping up with three or four different books at a time any more, darn ADD :P.

Well, I got sidetracked a bit, and Gaudy Night took me a bit longer than usual, but I got it done - really enjoyed it, actually - and have moved on to Busman's Honeymoon to round off Mystery March :P.

Finished Busman's Honeymoon. I'm not sure whether I liked it more or less than Gaudy Night; I think it seemed shorter because I read it in a couple of days, and I did like the mystery, but - I don't know if it was the occasional passage in French with no translation or the sort of disorder of the solving of the mystery - it seemed to come more in chunks, with a big one at the very end, than most of Sayers' other novels - but I'm not quite sure whether I'll like it as well as the others on rereading.

I did enjoy it overall, though, and all the literary references in it made me squee :P.

Well, finished The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax and The Nursing Home Murder the last day of March - Pollifax was surprisingly boring for a book with its premise (nice old widow joins the CIA), and Nursing Home was just pretty vile regarding mental illness and sterilization. I wanted to read Marsh's novels because I liked her later ones, like Death in a White Tie, but I don't know if I want to keep on.

So far in April, I've read Maisie Dobbs, which I unabashedly love, despite the mystery bit of the plot being a bit weak. I just love Maisie and her backstory, though, and the background of WWI is just drawn so well it feels like you're there. I am definitely keeping an eye out for the next one.

Started reading Murder Must Advertise, one of the earlier Sayers that I missed my first go around. I'm enjoying it so far :).

A very belated 'welcome' to both the group and LT!

I am also a fan of the Maisie Dobbs series, so I am glad to see another!

Hi schweinsty! Well, A Man Lay Dead came in at the library so I read that one for my first foray into Ngaio Marsh. I really liked it. It was a little creaky, yes, but I love that old-fashioned style. If Marsh's Alleyn mysteries get better after this, then I know I will probably enjoy the others. I have her second book right now, Enter a Murderer, on deck.

I think that Gaudy Night is my favorite of the Harriet Vane Sayers' books. I love the university setting.

I love the Maisie Dobbs books. I agree, the backstory is what makes them so interesting. Very original.

Sandy K

Thanks, alcottacre!

sandykaypax - One thing I do love about Marsh is how she captures the feel of the era's high society, which only gets better over the series :).

And out of curiosity, have you ever watched Lewis or Inspector Morse? They're English tv series about detectives in Oxford - Lewis is one of my favorites. There really is something about the university setting that makes for good mysteries.

April's been a slow month - finished Murder Must Advertise, which I liked quite a bit (especially the ending!). It *was* a little long, but you didn't notice it too much, and Peter got a chance to be somewhat of a jerk in this one to one character, which I found an interesting change from his normal persona :P. I really found it interesting how he meted out a sort of merciful 'justice' at the end.

For a change of pace, I then read Hawk and Fisher and Winner Take All, which are my first rereads of the year. I'm working my way through The God Killer now, though it might take me a while - I love the series, but his plots have a particular sort of rhythm that gets a bit much if you read several at once.

They're neat books, though - the plots aren't the best, but the characters of Hawk and Fisher are just so much fun (a hero's type of heroes, who never give up and never compromise their integrity - though perhaps they're a bit *too* perfect :P), the books are a breeze :).

Finally got around to Eagle Strike, which had been sitting on my tbr pile for half a year. It was pretty good-I was mildly dissatisfied with the ending, but it held up all right. The weakest part had to be the villain - Cray - pretty much your average Ebil Megalomaniac 'But this is good for the world, honest!' type, and the reasons MI6 refused to investigate him - you'd think they'd have learned after Stormbreaker.

Am currently listening to The Return of Sherlock Holmes on audiobook (from project gutenberg!) and really having a blast with them. I'd also completely forgotten I'd listened my way through The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes earlier this year - it didn't compute because I normally don't do audiobooks.

I'm making my way through the Alex Rider series. I'm up to Crocodile Tears. Scorpia was my favorite so far. Quite a year for a teenager, huh?

Haha, seriously! I finished Scorpia, and, man, Horrowitz is putting him through the ringer :P.

I started the last book, Scorpia Rising, but a student wanted it so I had to let him check it out. Darn! ;-) I left a sticky note where I was reading. Hopefully he's a fast reader and it's returned quickly.

I have really got back to the Horowitz series. I have only read the first book thus far.

Oh, you really should! The first two are not my favorites, but the series definitely picks up fast :D.

Finished The Trellisane Confrontation. The plot was fine, though the ending was a bit silly, and I particularly enjoyed Chapel's subplot. Not a bad choice if you like TOS tie-ins.

Continuing with Alex Rider, Ark Angel was pretty good - not as much as Scorpia, but I enjoyed it quite a bit :). As usual, the weak point in the novel was the villain - especially so here. I think what I like most about this series is Alex and how his attitude changes through it - he still hates MI6, but he's getting used to saving the world.

Also read the first volume of Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, a so far pretty good graphic novel. Hopefully I'll be reading the rest :). I'm really looking forward to them.

I wish my local library had Strangers in Paradise. Unfortunately its stock of graphic novels is very limited. Glad to see you are enjoying the books though!

The last of the Alex Rider series, Scorpia Rising was returned yesterday so I'll be able to finish the series. It's been a wild ride! Hope you are enjoying them, too.

Read the next three volumes of Strangers in Paradise, which were even better than the first, and The Rosary, by Florence Barclay, which was entertaining but still kind of horrible and had issues up the wazoo, despite trying to convey a good message (HURRAY, ugly people can be really nice on the inside, even if they're hideously ugly! Did we mention how ugly they are?)

Oh, awesome! I still haven't started Snakehead, but I am really looking forward to the last three :D.

Finished The Whitechapel Horrors. Although at first Watson and Holmes seemed slightly off, and the third person narrator was difficult to get used to, it got better and turned out to be an interesting read. I did find the ending just a bit unsatisfying, though.

#33: I read that one years ago. I still have a copy in my personal library. I need to re-visit the book at some point and see if I want to continue to keep it.

Oh, do you like Sherlock pastiches? I used to be a purist, but I've been looking for some good Holmes recs lately.

Read The Moorland Cottage this morning before work - which was a really nice pick-me-up, as my work feels like a Dilbert cartoon, except less well-paid and with more interaction with cranky customers :P. But it was a lovely book; I don't know that I'd call it feminist all the way (though maybe), but I loved the progression of Maggie, the main character, as she finally stands up to herself and gets a deservedly happy ending. Five stars all around, and I'm looking to Cranford, by the same author, next, once I get done with Snakehead :P.

I finished Snakehead - I liked it quite a bit better than Ark Angel, and the ending actually surprised me (the last few pages, that is).

I also started reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with my girlfriend, two chapters a day. I just finished ch. 6 right now, and I can't wait until tomorrow; it's looking like it'll be interesting.

#35: I am not big on Sherlock pastiches, so really have no recommendations. I very much enjoy Laurie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series beginning with The Beekeeper's Apprentice though.

Wow, it's been a while!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
I really enjoyed it! It had a bit of a slow start, with some info-dumping I could have done without, but it picked up the pace quick enough, and was very intriguing. I also *love* Liseth's character; it's neat to see a socially awkward woman done well.

Faceless Killers
The first of four I got for my birthday :D, I really enjoyed this one. I had a problem with some racism in it (unnecessary, though brief, exotification of black women, plus the main character is somewhat xenophobic), but otherwise it was quite well-written, and the mystery sucked you in. I got into Wallander through the British tv series, so I was a bit surprised by the differences between the two, but it was good in its own right.

Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman
Honestly, I hadn't expected this novel to be as good as it was. I have a weakness for Austen profic, but I usually don't *buy* it, getting it at the library or wherever instead. But, hey, birthday :). Anyway, this one was surprisingly well-written! A lot of Austen spinoffs just chuck in gratuitous sex scenes and make the female characters weaker/better fitting the Romance fiction archetype, but this did neither, generally, and I found it plausible enough, with good reasons for its AU turn.

A Beautiful Blue Death
I enjoyed this, but I wish it had been better paced. The resolution of the case seems to come all at once, and the main character spends a lot more time lounging around at home than I would have expected. Further, the mystery itself wasn't that great. The characters were pretty neat though, and the writing is nice enough that I don't regret buying it :).

The Mystery of the Blue Train
Continuing in my quest to complete my Agatha Christie collection, MotB was enjoyable enough, but it wasn't one that will leave a lasting impression. It wasn't bad, though, and the mystery was pretty fun.

Towards Zero
Better than TMotBT, the only bit I didn't like of this was the random love interest thrown in for the last fifth of the novel, which made no sense except as a plot point. Otherwise, though, a really good yarn.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Well-deservedly one of Christie's most famous; I'd watched the Poirot tv adaptation of this and knew how it ended, but even so, it kept me interested all throughout, and I love how she wrote certain tricky parts of it from the character's POV. Much recommended to mystery fans.

#39: I hope you continue on with the Larsson trilogy!

I'm about a third through The Girl Who Played With Fire and really enjoying it so far, but I'm setting it aside to reread the Dresden series before Ghost Story's release this month :).

Finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy yesterday, and am looking forward to the movie more than ever - the trailer looks great, and I *love* le Carre's earlier books.

Today, reread Storm Front, 1/12 of the Dresden series so far; Ghost Story comes out on the 26th, so I hope I can finish them in time :D.

I need to read Storm Front. I think I have only owned it for 3 years or so now!

Oh, you should! It's not the best, but the series gets *really* good after a couple books (and Harry mostly stops it with the chauvinism).

Well, so far August has been an audiobook month - all but Percy Jackson I got online (librivox for The Three Musketeers, in honor of the movie coming out in October. Still fun, but I'd forgotten how misogynistic it was).

The Lightning Thief - I enjoyed it more than I thought I would - it really was fun. I think Riordan tried a *bit* too hard with the slang a bit, and the pacing was a bit off, but I'm planning on hunting down the next in the series.