I Love a Good Mystery

Bloody Words 2010

Bloody Words (Canada's largest gathering of mystery readers and authors) is celebrating its 10th birthday this year, and it looks like it's going to be a good time.

The conference is back in Toronto (May 28-30), and has an impressive list of authors (including Deon Meyer, Peter Robinson, Robert Rotenberg, Howard Shrier, Giles Blunt, Mary Jane Maffini, Sean Chercover and Linwood Barclay, just to name a few!),  updated Mystery Cafe, awards banquet, and a variety of panels & events. 

To Kindle or Not To Kindle

The Kindle is now available in Canada.  Exciting news, but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.

I like the idea of getting a book within seconds. I like the idea of having a number of books with me without having to carry the weight of print books.  BUT...

I love books. I love reading, but it's also the actual books that I love. I like having them around my house. I like seeing the shelves full of favourite reads and books not yet explored. If I admitted the amount of time I've spent organizing, stacking, re-organizing, and shelving my books, you'd probably think I was nuts.

I've resisted audio books, primarily because the few I tried to listen to were too slow and I didn't care for the narrators. There's a good chance that I'm just a control freak, and I like to control the speed of the reading. With books, I sometimes go back and re-read a passage if it affected me in some way. I have, on occasion, skimmed paragraphs when they dealt with something I found boring.  With an audio book, that control is limited.

Not so, however, with a Kindle. I can skim, go back, and read at my pace.  This tempts me much more than audio books, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to give up my printed books.  In a world where technology = good, I'm feeling a little like a relic...but a happy relic surrounded by lovely books, in all shapes, colours and sizes.

Canada Reads - Book Selections

The books have just been announced for this year's Canada Reads, and they are:

GOOD TO A FAULT by Marina Endicott

NIKOLSKI by Nicolas Dickner

GENERATION X: TALES FOR AN ACCELERATED CULTURE by Douglas Coupland

THE JADE PEONY by Wayson Choy

FALL ON YOUR KNEES by Ann-Marie MacDonald

I haven't read any of these books (yet), and believe I only have the Douglas Coupland book somewhere on my bookshelves.  Interesting choices...

A little background (from the official site):

"Canada Reads celebrates five Canadian books for three months online, at public events and on air. It all leads up to a week-long show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. In this annual title fight, five celebrity panelists defend their favourite work of Canadian fiction. One by one, books are voted off the list, until one panelist triumphs with the book for Canada to read this year.

The half-hour debates will air on CBC Radio One from March 8 to March 12, 2010, at 11:30 am and 7:30 pm (3:30 pm and 8 pm in Newfoundland). The program will also air on CBC's digital channel Bold from March 8 to 12 at 6:00 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. NT, 3:00 p.m. PT) and on Sirius 137 on the same dates at 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET; it will also be available online and via podcast."

Crime Fiction Alphabet: I is for Ian Rankin

This week’s Crime Fiction Alphabet is brought to you by the letter I, and I'm using this opportunity to confess a sin I've been hiding for a while....

I've never read a book by Ian Rankin.  *hangs head in shame* 

Scottish author Ian Rankin is UK's best selling crime author, and best known for his Inspector Rebus series. The first book, KNOTS AND CROSSINGS, was published in 1987 and since that time, 16 more Rebus novels have been published.  Rankin has also written a number of other novels, including his latest, THE COMPLAINTS.

I have most (if not all) the Rebus novels in my TBR piles, and I have THE COMPLAINTS on my Christmas wish list but I'm not sure where to start. Do I go back to the beginning and make my way through the Rebus novels? Do I start with the most recent (a non-Rebus), then go back to the series?  I've toyed with the idea of trying to read one Rebus every month for the next year and a half, but I worry that it might be too much.  There are some series that are less enjoyable (to me) if I read them in somewhat rapid succession.

If you're a Rankin fan, what would you suggest?

Tower

TOWER, written by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman, tells (through dual narratives) the story of Nick and Todd, best friends and 'thugs on the rise'.  To say much more could spoil things, and this is too good of a book to be spoiled.

This book is brilliant in its concept and execution, and it wow'ed me big time. It's smart, violent, funny, and deals with issues of loyalty and friendship in a compelling way. The ending actually made me shed a few tears. Powerful stuff! 

Definitely one of my top reads of the year.

(Check out the story behind the story!)

Tower

Great news! Tower, a novel written by great authors Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman, will be out in fall 2009.

From the cover copy:

In the tradition of The Long Goodbye, Mystic River, and The Departed, Tower is a powerful meditation on friendship, fate, and fatality. A twice-told tale done in the unique format of parallel narratives that intersect at deadly crossroads, Tower is like a beautifully crafted knife to the heart.

Can't wait to get my hands on this one!

R.I.P. Tony Hillerman and Elaine Flinn

Most people have heard the sad news that Tony Hillerman passed away on Sunday. Now more sad news...author Elaine Flinn passed away from pneumonia (cancer complication) on Saturday.

I had the privilege of meeting Elaine Flinn on a number of occasions at mystery events.  She was always friendly and had a great sense of humour.  She'll be missed.

Elaine Flinn shows Ann Cornellier (left) and Pari Noskin Taichert (right) her Barry Award (Bouchercon, 2005)

Boy A

I recently watched Boy A, a movie based on the novel of the same name by British author Jonathan Trigell.  The story centers on a young man who, as a child, was convicted of murder.  Now in his 20s, he has been released from prison and must figure out a way to live in the real world.

The story is compelling, and lead actor Andrew Garfield delivers an amazing performance. The cinematography is really well done, and somehow this films manages to be both subtle and yet powerful at the same time.

The issues addressed in the film (rehabilitation, forgiveness, evil act vs evil person, etc.) are complex, and are interestingly presented in a thought-provoking way.

 

Current Reads

I'm currently in the middle of reading two books that are due out this summer. 

THE FOLLOWER, by Jason Starr, is a suspense novel that deals with a young woman's search for love in New York City.  If you are familiar with Jason's earlier work, you know it's going to be a dark journey.

In Thomas Perry's latest book, SILENCE, we meet Jack Till, a P.I. who helped a woman disappear years ago, and Sylvie & Paul, the killers hired to find that same woman and make her disappear permanently.

Full reviews to come soon.

Recent Reads

I am so far behind in both my reading and posting, but wanted to mention  a few recent reads that impressed me. 

THE DEAD HOUR by Denis Mina is the second book in the Paddy Meehan series (after FIELD OF BLOOD), and I thought it was even better than the first (and that's saying a lot).   Great characters, and the story manages to both be interesting and raise some thought-provoking ethical issues.

Robert Crais' THE WATCHMAN is a nice return to Pike and Elvis Cole (in a smaller role than in previous books). It still wasn't quite as good as some of the earlier Pike/Cole novels, but I enjoyed it more than recent books by the author.   That being said, an 'okay' Crais book is still better than much of what's out there.

THE BLONDE by one of my favourite authors, Duane Swierczynski, is truly fantastic. It's fast-paced, funny, dark, and wonderfully weird and unique.  No cookie cutter aspects here.  It's a great installment in what I'm sure will end up being an impressive body of work.  I only wish he'd write faster!