This is the place for "implies color" book reviews.
Sunday, December 30, 2018
2019 Read It Again Sam, Reviews
This is the place to link up reviews for the 2019 Read It Again, Sam Challenge. It will be up all year long.
Color Coded and Read It Again, Sam Wrap-Up Posts
This is the place to link up the wrap-up posts for both the Color Coded and Read It Again, Sam Challenges. I hope you all have had fun finding new books through the color prompts and/or revisiting old friends with Sam and Rick.
Follow the Clues: Present Your Evidence
Greetings, Vintage Mystery Challengers! Well, we're in the final days (hours) of 2017 and challenges are coming to a close. It's time to set the stage for wrap-up posts, prize drawings, and winners. The Follow the Clues Mystery Challenge requires you to present your evidence trail to the court. Below (in bold), you will find the qualifications for prizes from the original challenge post:
Prizes!
~All challengers who complete their level with readily explained clues will be eligible for an end-of-year prize drawing.
Bloggers: please put together a wrap-up post that details your Clue Trail and reminds us of your initial commitment and link it up below.
Non-Bloggers may give their Clue Trail in a comment below.
The link will be open through January 8, 2019 and the drawing will take place as soon as possible thereafter.
Monthly Key Word Wrap-Up
Well...2018 is almost a wrap--which means it's time to wrap-up our reading and our challenges before we slip into the New Year. Please link up your Monthly Key Word wrap-up posts below.
Mount TBR Final Checkpoint
Well, my fellow mountaineers, our 2018 climbing expedition is coming to a close and it's time to get ready for the Final Mountaineering Checkpoint. Where does the time go? I'm ready to hear how all our mountain-climbing team members have done out there on Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, Mt. Everest....whichever peak you've chosen. Checkpoint participation is absolutely voluntary and is not considered necessary for challenge completion.
For those who would like to participate in this checkpoint post, I'd like you to at least complete the first of these two things. And if you feel particularly inspired (or generous about humoring me during the holiday season), then please do both.
1. Tell us how many miles you made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you've planted your flag on the peak, then tell us, take a selfie, and celebrate (and wave!). Even if you were especially athletic and have been sitting atop your mountain for months, please check back in and remind us how quickly you sprinted up that trail. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting book adventures you've had along the way.
Having learned my lesson last year about being too ambitious, I set my sights on Mount Everest again in 2018. I planted my flag on the peak at the beginning of November and loaded my spaceship to see how far I'd get up Olympus this time. (I just can't seem to make it to that peak). Right now, I have managed 127 books and I hope to claim one more before the ball drops on New Year's Eve.
2. The Words to the Wise According to Mount TBR: Using the titles of the books you read this year, see how many of the familiar proverbs and sayings below you can complete with a book read on your journey up the Mountain. Feel free to add/subtract a word or two to help them make sense. I have given my titles as examples:
A stitch in time...[saves] The Pink Camellia
Don't count your chickens...[before] The Grub-&-Stakers Pinch a Poke
A penny saved is.... (a) Payoff for the Banker
All good things must come... Before Midnight
When in Rome... I Capture the Castle
All that glitters is not... The Lacquer Screen
A picture is worth a... Odor of Violets Case with Three Husbands
When the going gets tough, the tough get... The Killing Strike
Two wrongs don't make (a)... Queen's Quorum
The pen is mightier than.... A Holiday Yarn
The squeaky wheel gets... (the) The Body in the Basket
Hope for the best, but prepare for... The Hellfire Conspiracy
Birds of a feather flock... Just Around the Coroner
And what do you get for all that hard work? The Checkpoint will close at 11:59 pm on Tuesday, January 8. On Sunday I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). This prize may count towards your 2019 TBR climb.
Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or if you got distracted by pretty scenery or side trails (library books, ARCs, what-have-you), I'd love to have you check in and tell us how your 2018 mountain climb went!
***Please note--Links are for Checkpoint posts only. Links that are not Checkpoint-specific will be removed--to make it easier for me to track a winner.
Just the Facts, Ma'am 2018 Final Wrap-Up
Greetings, Vintage Mystery Challengers! Well, we're in the final days (hours) of 2018 and challenges are coming to a close. It's time to set the stage for wrap-up posts, prize drawings, and winners. Below (in bold), you will find the qualifications for prizes from the original challenge post:
*PRIZES!
1. Challengers who complete the minimum six books from a single era will be eligible for a drawing at the end of the year for a book from the prize list.
2. Challengers who complete 12 or more books (either from the same era or at least six from each era) will also be entered in a separate drawing--for another chance to win, again for their choice of a book from the prize list.
Please keep track of your progress and be prepared to submit a final wrap-up post or comment at the end of the year.
The wrap-up post (or comment) should include the title, author, and 1st pub date of each book as well as the item found. When you post your wrap-up on the the Linky below, use your name and card fulfillment in the "name" slot to help me identify which prize drawing/s you are eligible for. Use the example which indicates the level attained.
Examples:
Bev (Gold 6-11)
Bev (12+)
If you do not blog, please use the same format to indicate your level and to list your books/items in a comment--be sure to include your name. The wrap-up post will be open until January 8, 2019 and the drawing will take place as soon as possible thereafter.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
You Read How Many Books?
hosted by Gina at Dragon's Lair
2019
Guidelines are pretty simple. Choose a level to aim for and submit your list at the end. My reading has slowed down the past couple years, so I'm going for the Teen level (104 books) in 2019. Hopefully, I'll exceed that.... For full details and to sign up, click the link above.
My List:
1. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W. E. Bowman (1/2/19)
2. The Winter Women Murders by David A Kaufelt (1/5/19)
3. Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh (1/7/19)
4. I Am Capatin Kirk by Frank Berrios (1/8/19)
5. I Am Mr. Spock by Elizabeth Schaefer (1/8/19)
6. An African Millionaire by Grant Allen (1/10/19)
7. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers (1/12/19)
8. The Dead Shall Be Raised by George Bellairs (1/13/19)
9. The Murder of a Quack by George Bellairs (1/14/19)
10. A Whiff of Cyanide by Guy Fraser-Sampson (1/15/19)
11. The Haunted Man & The Haunted House by Charles Dickens (1/16/19)
12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1/18/19)
13. Tales of Terror & Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1/23/19)
14. Hitler's First Victims by Timothy W. Ryback (1/24/19)
15. The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes by June Thomson (1/25/19)
16. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (1/25/19)
17. Tower of London: A Chilling Interactive Adventure by Blake Hoena (1/26/19)
18. Terror on the Titanic by Jim Wallace (1/27/19)
19. Blind Corner by Dornford Yates (1/27/19)
20. A Death in the Night by Guy Fraser-Sampson (1/30/19)
21. Zion's Fiction by Sheldon Teitelbaum & Emanuel Lottem, eds (2/6/19)
22. A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary & Vincent Price (2/13/19)
23. Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (2/14/19)
24. Blood of the North by James B. Hendryx (2/15/19)
25. Where the Snow Was Red by Hugh Pentecost (2/16/19)
26. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (2/17/19)
27. Night of the Fox by Jack Higgins (2/19/19))
28. No Patent on Murder by Akimitsu Takagi (2/21/19)
29. Monsieur Lecoq by Emile Gaboriau (2/27/19)
30. The Lucky Stiff by Craig Rice (3/1/19)
31. Code Talker by Chester Nez w/Judith Schieff Avila (3/9/19)
32. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (3/9/19)
33. A Wreath for Rivera by Ngaio Marsh (3/11/19)
34. Murdered: One by One by Francis Beeding (3/16/19)
35. Books to Die For by John Connolly & Declan Burke (3/22/19)
36. Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal (3/23/19)
37. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (3/24/19)
38. Becoming by Michelle Obama (3/27/19)
39. The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy L Sayers (3/31/19)
40. A Knife in the Back by Bill Crider (4/2/19)
41. Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh (4/4/19)
42. Mossflower by Brian Jacques (4/8/19)
43. Swing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio Marsh (4/6/19) [audio novel version]
44. When in Rome/Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh (4/11/19) [BBC audio]
45. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (4/13/19)
46. Gallows Court by Martin Edwards (4/13/19)
47. The Pocket Detective: 100+ Puzzles by Kate Jackson (4/19/19)
48. Murder at the Mardi Gras by Elisabet M. Stone (4/20/19)
49. A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter (4/22/19)
50. Trixie Belden & the Mystery on the Mississippi by Kathryn Kenny (4/23/19)
51. Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers (4/23/19)
52. The March Hare Murders by Elizabeth Ferrars (4/23/19)
53. Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd (4/26/19)
54. Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers (4/28/19)
55. Is Skin Deep, Is Fatal by H.R.F. Keating (5/1/19)
56. Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer (5/3/19)
57. Murder at the 42nd Street Library (5/5/19)
58. Spinster in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh (5/6/19)
59. Death on a Warm Wind by Douglas Warner (5/8/19)
60. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (5/11/19)
61. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie (5/12/19)//
62. Miss Agatha Doubles for Death by H.L.V. Fletcher (5/16/19)
63. The Lover by Laura Wilson (5/17/19)
64. The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers (5/19/19)
65. Beverly Gray's Island Adventure by Clair Blank (5/21/19)
66. The Cream of Crime edited by Jeanne F. Bernkopf (5/26/19)
67. The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield (6/1/19)
68. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth (6/3/19)
69. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (6/6/19)
70. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/13/19)
71. Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh (6/16/19)
72. The Father Hunt by Rex Stout (6/18/19)
73. Killing the Goose by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/24/19)
74. Mystery of the Emerald Buddha by Betty Cavanna (6/29/19)
75. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (7/1/19)
76. Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh (7/7/19)
77. The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams (7/12/19)
78. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (7/21/19)
79. Tenant for the Tomb by Anthony Gilbert (7/28/19)
80. 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (7/28/19)
81. The Mystery of the Fire Dragon by Carolyn Keene (7/29/19)
82. A Hard Rain by Dean Wesley Smith (7/31/19)
83. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (8/2/19)
84. Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes by J.R. Campbell & Charles Prepolec (8/5/19)
85. Family Affair by Ione Sandberg Shriber (8/6/19)
86. Murder in the Maze by J. J. Connington (8/10/19)
87. Death After Breakfast by Hugh Pentecost (8/10/19)
88. Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh (8/17/19)
89.The Swimming Pool by Mary Roberts Rinehart (8/21/19)
90. Dr. Fell, Detective & Other Stories by John Dickson Carr (8/24/19)
91. The Spanish Cape Mystery by Ellery Queen (8/28/19)
92. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (8/31/19)
93. And Hope to Die by Richard Powell (9/2/19)
94. The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen (9/4/19)
95. Black Aura by John Sladek (9/9/19)
95. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (9/11/19)
97. The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat by Claudia Bishop (9/14/19)
98. False Scent by Ngaio Marsh (9/15/19)
99. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (9/16/19)
100. Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh (9/19/19)
101 The Fate of the Immodest Blonde by Patrick Quentin (9/22/19)
102. The House on Downshire Hill by Guy Fraser-Sampson (9/23/19)
103. The Two-Pound Tram by William Newton (9/24/19)
Challenge Complete
104. The Murder Book of J. G. Reeder by Edgar Wallace (9/28/19)
105. The Restless Corpse by Alan Pruitt (9/29/19)
106. Let's Kill George by Lucy Cores (10/1/19)
107. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (10/4/19)
108. Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh (10/8/19)
109. The Dutch Shoe Mystery by Ellery Queen (10/13/19)
110. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (10/15/19)
111. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (10/16/19)
112. The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie & Charles Osbourne (10/17/19)
113. The Perfect Murder by H. R. F. Keating (10/19/19)
114. The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall (10/22/19)
115. Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax (10/25/19)
116. Ellery Queen's Challenge to the Reader edited by Ellery Queen (11/5/19)
117. Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh (11/9/19)
118. The Eel Pie Murders by David Frome (11/13/19)
119. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (11/19/19)
120. The Noel Coward Murder Case by George Baxt (11/20/19)
121. Tragedy at the Unicorn by John Rhode (11/23/19)
122. Eyes at the Window by George Selmark (11/25/19)
123. Said With Flowers by Anne Nash (11/26/19)
124. When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra Martz [ed] (11/28/19)
125. The Case of the Second Chance by Christopher Bush (12/4/19)
126. Death Knell by Baynard Kendrick (12/5/19)
127. Murder Breaks Trail by Eunice Mays Boyd (12/15/19)
128. Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh (12/18/19)
129. The Bells of Old Bailey by Dorothy Bowers (12/22/19)
130. Star Over Bethlehem by Agatha Christie Mallowan (12/23/19)
131. Huckleberry Hound Newspaper Reporter by Horace J Elias (12/23/19
132. Mickey Mouse Mystery at Disneyland by Walt Disney Co. (12/26/19)
133. Bugs Bunny and Klondike Gold by unknown author (12/26/19)
134. Goofy in Giant Trouble by Don R. Christensen (12/26/19)
135. The Pink Panther at Castle Kreep by Don Glut (12/26/19)
136. Unholy Dying by R. T. Campbell (12/29/19)
137. Trixie Belden & the Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell (12/30/19)
138. Trixie Belden & the Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell (12/30/19)
139. Trixie Belden & the Mysterious Stranger by Julie Campbell (12/31/19)
Mystery Reporter's Challenge 2019
MYSTERY REPORTER'S CHALLENGE 2019
Sponsored by Ellie at Dead Herring
Thru Goodreads Group: The Challenge Factory
The challenge runs from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019.
REPORTER CHALLENGE:
Who? What? Where? When? How?
Why? – because it’s fun to read!
Read books that fulfill the various categories under the reporter's standard questions.
Cub Reporter complete: 4/23/19
Columnist complete: 5/5/19
News Anchor complete: 8/5/19
Editor complete: 9/4/19
Newspaper Mogul complete:
BONUS CATEGORY: Pulitzer Prize Winner (Newspaper Mogul plus Bonus Category) = 30 books COMPLETE:
As in past years, my declared commitment will be for Cub Reporter and I can consider the challenge fulfilled at that level. My ultimate goal will, of course, be to try for all thirty books--but I can see some tricky ones on the list, especially since I want to fulfill all my challenges with books I own. Not sure I have any more books with people who work with animals. We'll see...
WHO
Protagonist is a librarian: Murder at the 42nd Street Library by Con Lehane (5/5/19)
Protagonist works with animals: The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat by Claudia Bishop (9/14/19)
Protagonist dabbles in the supernatural: Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes by J.R. Campbell & charles Prepolec, eds [Holmes takes on the supernatural] (8/5/19)
A Main Character is a dead person (ghost, skeleton, vampire, zombie…anybody who is dead): The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen (9/4/19)
Protagonist is a youngster (25 yrs old or younger): Trixie Belden & the Mystery on the Mississippi by Kathryn Kenny (4/23/19)
WHAT
Animal in the title [NOT dog or cat]: Night of the Fox by Jack Higgins (2/19/19)
Title is at least 6 words: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes by June Thomson (1/25/19)
Color in the title: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (4/13/19)
A "food word" in the title: The Eel Pie Murders by David Frome (11/13/19)
Weather element in the title: Where the Snow Was Red by Hugh Pentecost (2/16/19)
WHERE
Set in a small town: The Dead Shall Be Raised by George Bellairs (1/13/19)
Set in a big city: Monsieur Lecoq by Emile Gaboriau [Paris] (2/27/19]
Set in a B&B or hotel: Death After Breakfast by Hugh Pentecost [hotel] (8/10/19)
Set in a state beginning with letter "A": Murder Breaks Trail by Eunice Mays Boyd [Alaska] 12/15/19
Out on foreign soil [not US or England]: No Patent on Murder by Akimitsu Takagi [Japan] (2/21/19)
WHEN
Set in the 1900s: The Murder of a Quack by George Bellairs [1942] (1/14/19)
Set during a competition: Is Skin Deep, Is Fatal by H.R.F. Keating [beauty contest] (5/1/19)
Set in the 1800's: An African Millionaire by Grant Allen [1897] (1/10/19)
"Ticking clock" is involved [timing crucial to solving mystery]: Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (9/2/19)
Set during winter: Blood of the North by James B. Hendryx (2/15/19)
HOW
(Method of Murder)
Poison: A Whiff of Cyanide by Guy Fraser-Sampson (1/15/19)
Knife/stabbing: Blind Corner by Dornford Yates (1/27/19)
Gun/shooting: Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (1/12/19)
Blunt object: Murdered: One by One by Francis Beeding (3/16/19)
Rope/strangulation: Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh [asphyxiated] (1/10/19)
BONUS CATEGORY
WHO - Not your typical protagonist [blind, deaf, wheel-chair bound, ADHD, Aspergers, etc): Death Knell by Baynard Kendrick [blind detective] (12/5/19)
WHAT – Protagonist's first name starts with your 1st or last initial [actually, my whole first name]: Beverly Gray's Island Adventure by Clair Blank (5/21/19)
WHERE – Set in a school: A Knife in the Back by Bill Crider (4/2/19)
WHEN – Set during a storm: The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield (6/1/19)
HOW - Killed by Fire: Gallows Court by Martin Edwards [3 of several victims burned to death] (4/13/19)
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
A Holiday Yarn: Review
A Holiday Yarn (2010) by Sally Golden Baum takes place, as one might guess, in the days leading up to Christmas. Mary Pisano has been hard at work turning her family's Massachusett's home (and her recent inheritance) into a charming Bed and Breakfast. All her friends in Sea Harbor have been encouraging and helping her--and she's so close to putting the finishing touches on it. But then she opens the house to her family--for the traditional clan gathering. Oh, not for holiday cheer exactly--but to go over the family finances and see how everyone has been taking care of their portion of the inheritance from the Pisano patriarch, Enzo Pisano. Mary's cousin, Pamela, is one of the few people who don't think a B&B is such a stellar idea. But then, Pamela doesn't seem to think any idea that she didn't come up with is all that. Pam stirs up trouble among her relatives and manages to ruffle feathers all over town. So, we really shouldn't be all that surprised when she's found dead of a gunshot wound--sprawled in a snowdrift outside the future B&B. Her murderer tried to make it look like suicide, but either forgot or never realized that their victim was left-handed. Planting the revolver in Pam's right hand was just their first mistake. And Nell and the Seaside Knitters are ready to pounce on other mistakes and hunt for clues to help Chief Jerry Thompson find Pam's murderer and keep the rumor mill from blaming Mary and her Bed & Breakfast for bringing a murderer to their town.
This was a nice, middle-of-the-road cozy mystery. With more emphasis on cozy than on mystery--it is a comfortable little book about good friends in a small town who knit and eat and, apparently, occasionally solve murder together. [After all, this is book four of a series that currently has 13 entries...] The characters show a nice, diverse slice of small-town life without being cardboard cutouts or stereotypes. It was also refreshing to have a theme-based [knitting] cozy where the theme didn't overshadow the whole book. The knitting references were worked into the story carefully and it didn't feel like they were shoe-horned in. The mystery isn't terribly complicated, but that was all to the good for me--it's a busy time of the year and it was nice to settle down with an easy, charming little mystery. ★★★
[Finished 12/24/18]
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Challenge Complete: Official 2018 TBR Pile
I finally managed to get Thank You, Jeeves read--which means I have finished all 14 books (including alternates) for Adam's Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge. I'm so glad Adam found the time to sponsor this one again--it's one of the few challenges I do where I have to lock myself in for certain books. It helps me focus a portion of my reading for the year.
Here's my list with review links:
1. Act One, Scene One--Murder by A. H. Richardson (2016) [1/30/18]
2. Thank You, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (1933) [12/22/18]
3. Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (1929) [11/12/18]
4. Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner (1942) [3/30/18]
5. Rear Window Story Collection by Cornell Woolrich (1942) [5/9/18]
6. Murder at Midnight by C. S. Challinor (2014) [7/23/18]
7. The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas (2007) [6/1/18]
8. Then There Were Three by Geoffrey Homes (1938) [4/30/18]
9. Women Sleuths by Martin H. Greenberg & Bill Pronzini, eds (1985) [7/21/18]
10. Gun in Cheek by Bill Pronzini, ed (1987) [6/27/18]
11. The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson (1889) [4/3/18]
12. With Blood & Kisses by Richard Shattuck (1941) [2/23/18]
Alternates
1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948) [8/5/18]
2. Payoff for the Banker by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1945) [3/15/18]
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