Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, October 23, 2023 ~ Books & More...

---

THOUGHTS

The TIME100: "The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time" was published last week. TIME seems be celebrating their 100th anniversary by creating lists. Most of them are leaving me cold (we subscribe to TIME so we get to see a lot of of them). But this was mystery books, so I was interested. I've read 19 of them in my lifetime and I think that is all that I will be read from the list. Some I have never heard of, others are thrillers or are just too plain nightmare-inducing for me to consider.

A few things really bothered me about the list. One, the process lacks integrity despite the editors' assurances to the contrary. The books were chosen, in part, by a panel of seven authors chosen by TIME, all of whom had a book on the final list. Authors were not allowed to suggest their own books but that didn't stop other panelists from suggesting them -- or from giving those books high marks in the rating portion of the analysis. Another is that the list combines mysteries and thrillers. Yet another is that fully 30 of the titles are not old enough to have stood the test of time. IMHO, just another puff piece.

Nonetheless, I did find one book that I wanted to read -- and went right out, borrowed it, finished it and am reviewing it below. I loved it.

TICKETS
Not a single one this week. But we made up for it with two family days instead of one this weekend. My niece was in town for the Head of the Charles regatta; she is a coxswain with a Rowing Club in Colorado. We did not go to the races; parking and seating are the pits, and even worse in the rain. So, we missed seeing her boat row to a win. Instead, it was dinner at DD2's on Saturday, which was much more conducive to conversation. Sunday, we baked pretzel buns, which we later served with fresh cooked, not deli sliced, corned beef and some coleslaw. Delish! Grandson wanted little to do with measuring the ingredients and everything to do with the kneading and rolling out of the dough. He worked beside me, rolling the dough into snakes for me to shape into something approximating a pretzel shaped roll. Definitely, have to experiment with bun shapes in the future.

The grandstand. You can buy seats if you don't want to find a spot on the river bank, but you pay through the nose for them. No thanks.

 

HALLOWEEN BINGO

I started tagging books on my library wishlist for HB2024. I finally figured out how to do it.

 

THE BOOKS

Latter End by Patricia Wentworth

Yes, another in the Miss Silver series. I stocked up on them at a sale. I have no problem reading them. I do have a problem finding something bright and intelligent to say about each one. Miss Silver is a solid read.
3.25 stars

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
From the TIME100: Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

OMG!! I loved this book. It just kept getting better and better and better with every turn of the page, and it was ever so twisted in the bargain. No wonder it was chosen for this list. This "perfect murder" is definitely not a "whodunit" but more of a "howdunit" and a "whydunit." It is also a question of how long the perp can keep the investigators from figuring it out. Add to the joy, a beautiful translation and a masterful performance by the narrator, David Pittu. I read Malice by the same author a few years ago and now I think I am going to have to seek out more of his books.
Solidly a 4+stars read. Definitely going on my "Best of the Year" list

When the Thrill is Gone by Walter Mosley

Maybe for Leonid McGill but certainly not for me.
3.75 stars

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes

Every employee's pipe dream leaps fully formed from the page. Utterly preposterous and a joy to read. Co-narrators Simon Vance and Neil Patrick Harris were the spot-on, perfect voices to bring this absurd tale to life. Please do not ever, ever, ever turn this book into a stage show or a movie -- or even worse, a series.
3.5 stars and a shoe-in for Gallows Humor