Reading Undercover

D Is for Dunning: Bookman's Wake by John Dunning

2010-02-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

A former Denver cop who now runs a rare book store makes for an appealing amateur sleuth in the traditional Cliff Janeway mystery series. The big appeal for many fans I talk with is the knowledge readers gain about book collecting and values. Bookman’s Wake has many scenes in the Northwest (downtown Seattle; around North Bend). I think I knew enough about this series to recommend them without reading them, and now you do, too.

Seeing an author I love ...

2010-02-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a puzzler: I write and talk about books for a living (in two different jobs), yet I absolutely cannot write about books. Or at least not the books that I love to my core. If I really love a book, I am terrified to write even a paragraph about it, which I thought was probably because I'm afraid of not doing the book justice. But the truth is that I want to keep it inside my head, in some sort of cloud bubble of perfection, surrounded by emotions and visceral reactions, without concrete words to bring it down.
Such is the case with When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Anyone I know has heard how much I love this book, yet if someone asks me to explain why, I clam up. This is a book that shook me to my toes when I read it, reminding me not only why I want to write, but why I want to read.
Tonight I saw Rebecca at a book event in Seattle. She is unassuming, engaging and completely delightful. And now I love her all the more because she said tonight how she can't talk about the books she loves most, wanting to keep them in that fragile world inside her head.

C Is for Cain: Mildred Pierce by James Cain

2010-01-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

No murder, not even a crime; yet this mystery was filled with suspense and tension throughout. So glad I read this bit of L.A. noir because it wasn't what I expected. I had no problem getting Joan Crawford out of my head because the real Mildred Pierce (well, the fictional Mildred Pierce, but the one in the novel) is much younger and complex than Crawford's onscreen character -- and the story is rawer. Still, this played out in my head in black and white. Plot: Mildred starts a chicken-and-waffle (!) restaurant that grows into a successful chain, but throughout the many stages of her business and life she remains at the mercy of her manipulative, demanding daughter Veda. You can find Veda on our library blog's list of evil scary children.

And speaking of chicken and waffles (we were talking about that, right?), I did not know that such places existed, nor had I ever used those two words in the same sentence. Ever.

Why I missed my bus today

2010-01-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

Every workday morning I play this crazy fun little game ,“What made me miss my bus today?” It’s loads of fun, with answers ranging from “I thought it more important to make sure my only child got to school in a safe, happy, and well-nourished manner, even though he’s in high school and can fend for himself” to “I can’t decide if v-neck t-shirts are as douchey for a female as a male.” There are a lot of specifics associated with this game, and all the variables keep my math skills sharp. You see, I keep a running total in my head of how long things are taking me during those crucial last 10 minutes before I leave the house. For instance, making myself a lunch that involves pasta and vegetables will take about 2 minutes and 13 seconds longer than making a turkey sandwich (because of the veggie chopping), yet 17 seconds less time than making an egg salad sandwich. (Note that turkey sandwich is the most time efficient, and so I never select that option.) Changing shoes can be a major time suck, adding as much as three minutes. No single task takes THAT much time, but add the indecisiveness and disorganization together and you’ve got a good wasted eight minutes.

Knowing that I might miss a bus doesn’t mean that I’ll skip the tasks. Instead, I keep it all in my head. Then, as I approach the stop and watch as the bus pulls away, I think back to which exact task kept me from being punctual.

Today, it was this.

THREE SPACES! That's right, this jackass is taking up three spaces in a crowded urban transit center parking lot. Stopping to take the photo cost me about 12 seconds; driving through the parking lot and realizing there were no spaces and that I needed to go somewhere else took six more minutes.

Meeting up with Mildred Pierce

2010-01-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to come across Mildred Pierce on the shelf because I remember reading this Slate article by Laura Lippman. "Mildred Pierce is the unicorn of crime fiction," she said, "a noir novel with no murder and very little crime." Of course I know the movie, but the pulp novel by James Cain is new to me. Lucky for me I'm looking for a C author to read next, but can I read it without seeing/hearing Joan Crawford?

B is for Balzo: Bean There, Done That by Sandra Balzo

2010-01-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

A barista and coffee shop owner stars as our amateur sleuth in this cozy series (Bean There, Done That is the third). Maggy Thorsen is a forty-something newly single woman who left a PR job to open Uncommon Grounds in an upscale bedroom community (Brookhills) outside of Milwaukee. In this installment, Rachel Thorsen (the new “Mrs. Thorsen,” married to Maggy’s ex, Ted) asks for Maggy’s help proving that Ted was cheating on Rachel at the same time he was cheating on Maggy. Soon Rachel disappears and a solid puzzle of a plot keeps things moving along Kirkus said, in a starred review: “Balzo gives an old formula new life with crisp dialogue, complex characters and a puzzle that can’t be beat.” I like this character and the series,
Books in the series so far: Uncommon Grounds; Grounds for Murder; Bean There, Done That; Brewed, Crude and Tattooed, From the Grounds Up.
Recommend to fans of Jill Churchill, Mary Daheim, M.C. Beaton and maybe to some who like Evanovitch (but not if they say they like Evanovitch because she's wacky).
Another cozy author in the B's: Maggie Barbieri (academic setting, English prof)

A is for Andrews: Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews

2010-01-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I put dozens of award-winning mysteries on display at our library, organizing them by the awards they'd won: The Edgars (general mysteries), the Shamus (best private eye stories) and the Agathas (commonly thought of as the best "cozies"). I made bookmarks for each category showcasing recent prize winners. I kept coming across Donna Andrews' name on the list for the Agathas, the awards that honor mysteries most representative of the style of Agatha Christie (amateur detective, closed setting). I placed a few copies of Six Geese a-Slaying face-out -- and they got snatched up. In fact, the Agathas were the books that were picked up --and checked out -- most often. That's not at all what I would have expected at our downtown library, especially since many have kind of corny covers and our paperbacks are pretty beat up. Perhaps the Agathas had the best spot in the display area? We rearranged the mysteries, giving the Agathas a less prominent placement, not making a judgment but just experimenting. And still they flew, including the Donna Andrews' bird titles (Cockatiels at Seven, We'll Always Have Parrots, Murder with Puffins and Murder with Peacocks). What was up?

I have a couple of theories. The Edgar winners are often authors whose names are more familiar and are often bestsellers, such as Ian Rankin, Jess Walter, S.J. Rozan, John Hart. Book browsers know where to look for them on the shelves. Cozies, on the other hand, are rarely on display (see above about corny covers) and the authors' names are (usually) not well known. Or maybe readers wanted something like a cozy, but didn't know it because they think that all that's available are the ones starring cat detectives. In any event, what this experiment showed me is that there are a lot of readers looking for light and/or amusing mysteries. And this brought me to Donna Andrews. Her Meg Langslow series (with the bird titles) are definitely light and/or amusing (although not my favorite kind of amusing). Small town, an amateur detective (Meg is an artist/craftswoman/blacksmith), a little love (but no sex), and the murder always takes place off camera. They're kind of like watching Murder, She Wrote, which I always found immensely soothing and soporific. Also, I will never admit that I have a soft spot for Murder, She Wrote.
Another cozy author in the A's: Susan Wittig Albert. I used to read her China Bayles series (high powered Houston attorney quits law and opens an herb shop) and I enjoyed revisiting her this time around.

2010: The year of reading alphabetically

2010-01-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

I had this really great idea last summer to read my way through some of the mysteries that are on the shelf at the library where I work. I was going to read one author for each letter. I made a whole bunch of rules for myself, like: Had to be a book on the shelf, should be a book I might at some point recommend to a library reader, had to be an author I hadn't already read, I had to stretch myself a little, and blah blah blah. One a week. I figured I'd get through the alphabet by the end of the year.

Well, listen to this: I made it to D! Wow, right? Actually, the good news is that the little experiment was immensely helpful to me already as I regularly recommend my B and C and D authors (Rhys Bowen for her historical mysteries set in 1900s New York; Robert Crais for being almost as good as Michael Connelly and being in L.A.; Lindsay Davis for the two people in the universe who like historical mysteries but haven't already read all of hers) to voracious readers at our library. Gosh, that parenthetical phrase seems all twisted when I mentioned Lindsay Davis. Let me try again: When it comes to detectives sleuthing the mean streets of Rome (circa 70 A.D.), there's no beating Marcus Didius Falco, the unforgettable lead character in 19 of Davis's novels.

Back to 2010 A.D. ... and the reason I'm blogging again: I'm going to do it all over again. And this time it doesn't have to be one a week (because that little rule will have me looking for short books). There is no time limit. And I can read whatever I want, although it will be good to stretch a little bit. And just to prove I'm not a slacker, I'm starting all over again. That's right. I'm in the A's.

Reading through the alphabet

2009-07-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Maybe if I say this out loud (or type it quietly) I'll have to actually follow through with something: I'm going to read a new author each week, for 26 weeks, right through the alphabet.

There are a few rules, and I'll make up more as I go along (and as I break the ones I already made):

Read consecutively through the alphabet, by last name.
Limit authors to the "Mystery" section of the library
I must select a book that is available at the library where I work.
It's best if the author has several titles.
It's okay to read bestsellers.
The author must be someone I haven't read.
I don't have to finish the book if I don't love it.
If I don't finish a book, I will have at least done the Joyce Sarricks' style of getting to know a book. (More about that later. Joyce Sarricks is a librarian, author, book reviewer and guru of good librarians.)
I do have to find good things to say about the book and/or author.
I will not be deterred from my alphabetical mission if someone should say something snarky, such as "What??? You haven't read THAT yet?"

Hmmm ... I'm going to work on those rules so they're a bit snappier.

Anyway, I'm doing this because I think I'm recommending the same mystery authors again and again to readers at my library. I feel only 38 percent confident when I recommend a book/author I don't know that much about; I always feel like I'm really talking out of my butt because I have no idea since I haven't actually read the book. My intent with this is to explore mysteries I might not usually read -- with the ultimate goal of being a better readers advisory librarian.

Oh, look at that! I just used library jargon. We talk about readers advisory a lot, and it's what we do all day (or at least most of the day) in the Fiction Department at my library. I kind of hate that I just dropped that term into a blog post. Let me rephrase: I want to do a better job of connecting people with books that they have a high likelihood of enjoying.

2008-10-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Stupidest tagline ever?
This seriously upsets me. I know that on one level the progression of fun-funner-funnest makes sense (think about the dumb-dumber-dumbest copywriters who worked on this ad), but come on! "Funnest" isn't a word.

2008-10-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite books of the year ... so far

One of my book groups compiles a list of each reader's top ten books of the year. Although we don't do this until early January, someone already brought it up at one of our September meetings. Although books in the Top Ten don't have to be published in 2008, there have been so many great books this year that I might make my list all 2008 pub dates. Yes, I know there are still three months of reading to be done. But here are five guaranteed to make my end-of-year best books list:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
Attack of the Theater People by Marc Acito
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos

I'm not even half way through The 19th Wife, but it has me completely hooked. Ebershoff also wrote one of my ALL-TIME favorite books, The Danish Girl.

2008-10-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hannah West on your iPod ... or even iPhone.

My friend Terry emailed me yesterday to tell me that she came across my middle-grade mystery series, Hannah West, available on audio. Had I forgotten to mention it to her? There was no forgetting -- BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW! Ay caramba. How does that happen?

I'm thrilled that any book of mine is an audio book (although I wish someone had told me that was in the works). I was especially excited to see this little bit of promotional copy: "Use your own iPhone, mp3 player or iPod for playing Hannah West on Millionaire's Row audio book.

I don't have an iPhone, but my fictional creation can be heard on one. That greatly amuses me. If the series is succcessful on audio, I will be further amused and pleased by royalties.

2007-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Flower Children by Maxine Swann:

Maxine Swann’s story “Flower Children” won both an O. Henry Award and a Pushcart Prize, and was included in The Best American Short Stories. Nearly a decade later, that story forms the first chapter of her lyrical novel, Flower Children, about four siblings raised by their living-off-the-land hippie parents in the 1970s. Everything about this short novel is beautiful, from the occasional and (successful) experimental plural third person protagonist to the stunning descriptions of how children with unlimited freedom yearn to conform.

Consider this passage from when the children first go to school and learn penmanship and rules:

“They learn not to swear. They get prizes for obedience, for following the rules down to the last detail. They’re delighted by these rules, these arbitrary lines that regulate behavior and mark off forbidden things and they examine them closely and exhaust their teachers with questions about the mechanical functioning and the hidden intricacies of these beings, the rules ...”

Gosh, you know, that whole section was delightful when I first read it. The problem with posting it here, out of context, is that it might not actually entice you into reading this book. That’s always a problem with excerpts, though.

This is the kind of writing I used to revel in. Too often these days, I read for a different kind of escape, where I want to get whisked into a story or involved with the characters. Now, don’t get me wrong – I cared a lot for the four kids in this book. But it was the writing that I most looked forward to each time I opened the book, the way that Swann let me in to observe this family and their friends, never making a judgment. I think this would be an exceptional fictional companion read for The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeanette Walls.

2007-08-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's Mii! (A Wii me, for the uninitiated.) I love love love Wii tennis. You can probably tell how good of a player I am by my focused, determined look and my smooth two-handed backhand.

I'm way behind in posting about books and vacation. We just got back from two weeks in Belize. Our first trip to Central America, first trip to the Caribbean, and first trip to the jungle. I'll post a couple of pictures later, but the real travelogue will be on Flickr.

2007-06-21T13:21:00.001-07:00

The Year of Fog
By Michelle Richmond

Photographer Abby Mason and her fiance’s daughter, six-year-old Emma, are enjoying the day at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Abby stops to photograph a dead baby seal, a diversion that lasts maybe 20 or 40 seconds – seconds that will replay endlessly in Abby’s mind during the next year; a few seconds that were long enough for Emma to disappear. When Emma isn’t immediately found, the assumption is that she must have drowned in the unpredictable currents. Most people give up, but Abby continues to believe that Emma is out there – she just needs to be found.

Memory plays a big part in this story, as Abby examines how we remember things, confabulation (filling in gaps in memory with fabrications that one believes to be facts) and how memories disappear. Abby struggles to find Emma, struggles to keep her relationship with Emma’s father and struggles to understand why Emma’s mother, who has been absent from the little girl’s life for three years, is back in a picture that has no Emma.

The plot recalls Jacquelyn Mitchard’s Deep End of the Ocean, but I think this book does much more on a literary level. The writing is spare, managing to be more vivid and emotional than you assume. My friend Susan said it’s “underwritten,” and that is a perfect description. Emotion, too, is off the pages, as if hiding in the margins and waiting to unfold in your head. The Year of Fog has a perfect balance of story and underlying philosophical ideas.

2007-06-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

I Love You, Beth Cooper
By Larry Doyle

I kid you not, this is seriously the funniest book I’ve read in the last four years. During his graduation night speech, Denis Cooverman, valedictorian at Buffalo Grove High School, urges his fellow classmates to leave with no regrets for the things they wanted to say but could not. Our hero pauses for dramatic effect, and then blurts out, “I love you, Beth Cooper.” Beth -- voted Most Popular and Best Looking by 513 BGHS seniors – is, predictably, a cheerleader; Denis’s team of choice is debate and his recreational reading includes the Journal of Juvenile Oncology. Graduation night heads a different direction after Denis’s memorable speech, and soon Beth and her two sidekicks are meeting up with Denis and his best friend, Rich (who, he says, is not gay and who also makes reference to his “female fiancée” who works at Hooter’s). The characters and plot may be a tad predictable, but I laughed so much I’m not sure I noticed.

The author wrote for The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Daria. (He also writes for The New Yorker, but since those articles are too long, I am more familiar with his multi media endeavors.) I Love You, Beth Cooper is packed with lines to savor and quote, just like an episode of The Simpsons. This is total movie material in the spirit of Dazed and Confused, and it didn’t surprise me at all to see that the book was optioned and may hit the big screen in 2009.

Here’s Dave Barry’s blurb on the back cover: “This book made me laugh out loud. I’m not saying it will make you laugh out loud. But I am saying that if it doesn’t, something is wrong with you.”

2007-06-07T21:57:00.001-07:00

Lucky Library Day

When there's a book on hold ready for me to pick up, the library sends an email. Sometimes I check the hold shelf even if I didn't get a message -- just in case something should arrive. I miss the days when I browsed the shelves, just looking for a book that sounded interesting or coming across a title that I'd meant to read but hadn't had the time. The pure serendipity of discovering a new book or author seems rare these days when what I usually do is put things on hold, and then pick them up. Check the hold shelf "just in case" is about as near as I get to surprising myself with what I'm going to read next. Anyway, today a wonderful surprise was waiting for me: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. Lucky me!

I also picked up: I Love You Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle (good reviews and cover) and Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer .

2007-06-07T17:59:00.000-07:00

Talk about Books: Four Big L’s

Laura Lippman and the Three Lisa’s – Lisa Gardner, Lisa Unger and Lisa Scottoline – are four mystery and suspense writers I depend on for page-turning stories with strong women characters.

In one month I read the newest titles from these four with a 75 percent success rate.
What the Dead Know by Lippman is her best stand-alone novel yet. (In fact, it deserves a separate blog entry. I’ll get right on that.) Hide by Lisa Gardner brings back D.D. Warren , a thinking woman’s kind of detective. Sliver of Truth, a follow up to Beautiful Lies, presents Ridley Jones, a magazine reporter still caught up in the mystery of her own identity.

But Daddy’s Girl? That’s the latest from Lisa Scottoline. I can’t believe I even read a book with that title (and check out that cover. Ug!). Natalie “Nat” Greco teaches law at Penn. She’s not exactly an inspired lecturer, and she offers even less when trying to save herself from being framed for a murder. Not only can I not believe I read a book with a title like this, I can’t believe I finished this one. Nat bumbles along – and not in an endearing way -- to the last page, making me wonder how she ever got a job at an Ivy League school, let alone as a main character in a Scottoline novel.

2007-06-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Back to talking about books ….

My intent with the Reading Undercover blog was to talk about books and reading, and it’s time I get back to that.

2007-06-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

Introducing the Metro Core Workout

Down on the 41, back on the 303. That was my commute yesterday. Both Metro buses were SRO, which is fairly typical. It’s precisely for that reason I came upon a new workout that engages my core muscles and challenges my balance. In the old days when I had to stand up on bus rides, I’d grab hold of a strap or a bar, and then grip tightly in some weird contortion. My body would swing occasionally, and I’d use my arm/shoulder/back to stay upright. No more. Not since I watched a woman on Metro Bus 41 who wasn’t hanging on – not at all, not even for a second -- for the entire ride downtown. I was not only impressed by her performance, I was determined to achieve similar graceful results. I imagine myself in a zen state, maintaining my balance as the massive bus rolls, turns and brakes.

I’ve been working on this for awhile, but yesterday on the 41 was the best. I got a prime standing spot (how sad that I get excited about getting a good spot to stand on the bus; what about getting to sit?) – near the side exit doors. This is ideal for leaning if you’re reading, and also as a bit of a safety net if you’re doing the Metro Core Workout. Hanging on to nothing, I lifted the pit of my abdomen, stood firm with my quadriceps and wiggled my toes to slightly shift and maintain balance. I was all Tadasana. (Mountain pose-ish.)

Now that I’ve proved to myself I can ride a crowded bus while standing up and without using my hands, I’m back to reading on the bus. Today I let a crowded 41 depart without me so I had a better chance getting a seated reading position on the next one. (This isn’t as much as a sacrifice as it sounds. The 41 comes about every five minutes.)

2007-03-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Owen, our dog, reacts to the words "dog park" the same way canines of the world do when they hear "walk" or see their owners putting on shoes that signal "I'm going outside and maybe, just maybe I'll take you with me." But his view of Doggie Disneyland may be changed forever after a dog attacked him at Magnuson Dog Park last weekend. We'd just walked into the park -- seriously, this happened in the first 90 seconds -- when a mid-sized dog rushed over. I assumed it was going to be the traditional exchange of sniffing greetings, but this dog pounced on top. Unfortunately, we didn't know how much damage the dog had done until later. Now, look at Owen, pictured here in his favorite chair enjoying a classic book: Can you imagine this guy in a scuffle? He is completely loveable and optimistic, assuming that all dogs and people are good. Anyway, a day at the vet and some antibiotics and Owen is on the mend. Worse than his eye and neck injuries was the change in his behavior. We knew he'd reached the depths of depression when the UPS truck (his absolute favorite vehicle) drove by and he didn't even bother with a single bark.

2007-03-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

I've had lots of jobs I've liked, but only three that I loved. Those three are: being a librarian (my current job), working for a public TV station, and selling books at the Secret Garden Bookshop in Seattle. How great is it that now I get to sell books through this incredible bookstore? Last Thursday I did a reading and a signing at the Ballard Library, an event sponsored by the Secret Garden. I met such nice kids, and my friend Lee brought her lovely dog Piper (who is a character in my book). I always get super nervous that no one will show up for a book event, and I figured that if I was boring, those who did come could play with Piper. If I was boring and no one showed up, then I could play with Piper. (Yippy! Lots of people showed up!)
Anyway, to advertise the event, the Secret Garden devoted an entire window to the Hannah West books, creating a version of Fremont, the setting for Hannah West in the Center of the Universe. But the piece de resistance was the life-sized cardboard rendition of Elvis, the basset hound star of the book, complete with leash and ready to roll. (Sort of like a Dogzilla Hound, since he towers over the trees and buildings in the window.) My husband made the Cardboard Elvis, and let me tell you, it was ADORABLE. I wanted to keep it. But we gave it away at the book event. Elvis went home with a totally cool girl named Halley. I know he is in good hands and they'll make a great duo.

Elvis, the fictional basset, has the personality of Owen, my nonfiction basset hound. He's a free-thinking love muffin of a dog, with a long wiggly body, jiggly epidermis, and the velvetiest ears you could ever pet. Owen was a little apprehensive when he met Cardboard Elvis, but he is always a friendly guy, so he went over to give the sniffing greeting. Alas, Cardboard Elvis lacked the distinct hound aroma. I'm hoping to make more Cardboard Elvises to have as giveaways at book events this spring and summer.

2007-03-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

I'm still riding high on this month's release of the third book in the Hannah West mystery series: Hannah West in the Center of the Universe. It came out in March and it's been a great month for activities, starting with an event at Kirkland Parkplace Books in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Day. I couldn't believe my good fortune to be sharing an author table with Kirby Larson , Newbery honor author of Hattie Big Sky; Kevan Atteberry, illustrator extraordinaire, whose most recent book is Lunchbox and the Aliens, Carole Lexa Schaefer , author of nearly 20 picture books, including Down in the Woods at Sleepytime (published in 16 languages!).

The next week Nancy Pearl was the keynote speaker at the King County Library System Foundation’s “Literary Lions” event. The authors included in this event were a nice mix of people who write fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and children’s novels.

2007-03-19T17:34:00.001-07:00

I've had this blog for awhile, but my postings were spotty, so I deleted them and decided to start over today, March 19. This is the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. On my bus this morning, a recorded message from Metro officials played over the PA system. It said, in effect: Please be advised that due to protests in the downtown area there will be significant delays in traffic and Metro bus routes. Metro advises riders to avoid the downtown area between 3 and 6 p.m. …"

This is what I think the announcement should have said:

"Please be advised that there are planned protests against the War in Iraq this afternoon. Metro advises you to leave work early – take vacation time, if necessary – and join in the peaceful marches through the downtown streets. Metro advises riders to come downtown between 3 and 6 p.m."