MY READER'S BLOCK: Bookish Christmas 2019

SCAM artist alert

Apparently there is someone calling himself "Luigi Calloway" out there who is claiming to be associated with the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. He is contacting authors and telling them if they pay him, then their books will be used for the challenge. It's possible he's also telling people they must pay to participate in any way. Please know that there is absolutely no charge associated in any way with this reading challenge and that this person does NOT represent me or anything associated with my blog. I DO NOT endorse anything that he claims.There will NEVER be a reason for anyone to have to pay for participation in any way for any of my challenges. If only people who exert this much time and effort on scamming people would put it into something worthwhile....like reading their own books! A message to Luigi: Please cease and desist contacting authors (or anyone) in my name or claiming to represent this reading challenge. You absolutely DO NOT.

Friday, December 27, 2019

Bookish Christmas 2019

Once again all the Santas in my life--from family to not-so-secret internet Secret Santas--have filled my Christmas stocking with literary delights.

From my Golden Age Secret ~~Kate~~ Santa (those customs forms make it awful hard to stay secret), I had a package of goodies that included:

An Academic Death by J.M. Gregson; The Cambridge Murders by Glyn Daniels; Dying Fall by Judith Cutler (all three academic mysteries--with the Daniels book being a double-bonus, a vintage-era academic mystery!); Happy Returns by Manning Coles; Drink to Yesterday by Manning Coles, and A Scream in Soho by John G. Brandon. Santa took her cue from my TBF list here on the blog and spoiled me good and proper.

I was also spoiled by the Santas nearer to home with several bookish boxes under the tree.

From Mr. & Mrs. Claus (Mom & Dad): Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life & Soul by Barbara Reynolds and The Mystery at Orchard House by Joan Coggin (along with a mystery puzzle "Murder at the Museum" and a bit of mystery nostalgia in The (Almost) Complete Scooby Doo Movies with celebrity guests)

And from my very own personal Santa, Brad: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (which wound up being a surprise because it was an edition that I don't own that I forgot I even put on my wish list); The Cat Saw Murder by D. B. Olsen; The Case of the Counterfeit Eye by Earl Stanley Gardner; Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly; The Smell of Murder (aka The Gracie Allen Murder Case) by S. S. Van Dine; The Corpse Steps Out by Craig Rice (edition upgrade); The Avon Book of Modern Crime Stories by John Rhode (ed); Challenge for Three by David Garth; The Scarab Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine; The Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart (in an edition I've long been looking for); Unexpected! by Bennett Cerf (ed); and Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh (again, an edition I've long been looking for). All but one of these are in those lovely little pocket-size editions that I adore.

I must have been a very good girl this year.

And...from my other internet Secret Santa, Rie: