The Best (and Worst) of 2024

 

This is a place to celebrate and review my reading journey over the last year. And...despite 2024 not being the best reading year every (especially in the last three months or so...) it still wasn't bad. I didn't make the 200 books read as I have the last three years, but by mid-October I knew that dream was out the window. I did manage (somehow) to complete all 37 challenges that I signed up for (yes, I am a bit addicted to the reading challenge...) and I also managed to shift 117 books off of my own TBR mountain range (shhh--don't ask how many are left). Overall, a fairly satisfying year for this reader and challenge-aholic. I still don't visit my fellow bloggers as often as I used to (hardly at all--I'm sorry, folks!). I wish I could go back to the early days of the blog when I seemed to have time to read and write reviews and go visit all my virtual friends. And I wish life would stop getting in the way.

But...back to celebrating. Let's take a look at the year-end reading stats.

Total Books Read: 156

Books Owned & Read: 117

Pages Read: 38,801

Percentage of Rereads: 17%

Percentage of New-to-Me Authors: 30%

Percentage Mystery: 89%

Percentage Nonfiction: 5%

Percentage by Women: 51%

Percentage Written 2000+: 32%

Percentage Non-US/UK: 15%

Non-US/UK Authors: Australian, Brazilian, Canadian, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish,Taiwanese

Non-US States/UK Settings: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, a Fantasy World, Fictitious European Country, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Outer Space, Russia, Ship (Atlantic Ocean), South America (unspecified), Sweden, Taiwan

Top Vintage Mysteries of 2024 (no rereads)

The Twelve Deaths of Christmas by Marian Babson (Silver Age, 1979; 4 stars)

Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers (Golden Age, 1913; 4 stars)

Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac (Golden Age, 1952; 4 stars)

Heberden's Seat by Douglas Clark (Silver Age, 1979; 4 stars)

Miraculous Mysteries ed by Martin Edwards (all stories Golden Age, 2017; 4 stars)

Murder by the Book ed by Martin Edwards (all stories Silver Age or earlier, 2021; 4 stars)

The Final Days of Abbot Montrose by Sven Elvestad (Golden Age, 1917; 4 stars)

Murder in C Major by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (Silver Age, 1986; 4 stars)

Dance of Death by Helen McCloy (Golden Age, 1938; 4 stars)

Bodies from the Library 3 ed by Tony Medawar (all stories Silver Age or earlier, 2020; 4 stars)

Bodies from the Library 4 ed by Tony Medawar (all stories Golden Age, 2021; 4 stars)

McKee of Centre Street by Helen Reilly (Golden Age, 1933; 4 stars)

The Owl in the Cellar by Margaret Scherf (Golden Age, 1945; 4 stars)

Death, My Darling Daughters by Jonathan Stagge (Golden Age, 1945; 4 stars)

The Final Deduction by Rex Stout (Silver Age, 1961; 4 stars)

Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout (Golden Age, 1934; 4 stars)

The Desert Moon Mystery by Kay Cleaver Strahan (Golden Age, 1927; 4 stars)

The New Shoe by Arthur W. Upfield (Golden Age, 1951; 4 stars)

Wicked Uncle by Patricia Wentworth (Golden Age, 1947; 4 stars)

Top Modern Mysteries 2024 (no rereads)

The Blood-Dimmed Tide by Rennie Airth (2004; 4 stars)

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves (2022; 4 stars)

Think Twice by Harlan Coben (2024; 4 stars)

Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards (2023)

A Fete Worse Than Death by Dolores Gordon-Smith (2007; 4 stars)

Murder & Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood (2013; 4.5 stars)

What Cannot Be Said by C. S. Harris (2024; 5 stars)

Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang (2023; 4 stars)

Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell (2015; 4 stars)

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi (2020; 4 stars)

Still Life by Louise Penny (2005; 4 stars)

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn & Janie Change (2024; 4 stars)

Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson (2023; 4 stars)

Top Fiction 2024 (no rereads)

Amphigorey by Edward Gorey (4 stars)

The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton (4 stars)

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin (5 stars)

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa (4 stars)

Top Nonfiction 2024 (no rereads)

Dorothy & Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers & C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo (4 stars)

Only in Books by J. Kevin Graffagnino (4 stars)

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (4 stars)

Playing with Myself by Randy Rainbow (4 stars)

Making It So by Patrick Stewart (4 stars)

Monthly P.O.M. (Pick of the Month) Award Winners

January: Murder & Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

February: The Final Days of Abbot Montrose by Sven Elvestad

March: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

April: Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards

May: The Owl in the Cellar by Margaret Scherf

June: Still Life by Louise Penny

July: Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac

August: Dance of Death by Helen McCloy

September: Think Twice by Harlan Coben

October: Wicked Uncle by Patricia Wentworth

November: Heberden's Seat by Douglas Clark

December: McKee of Centre Street by Helen Reilly

Now...before we move on to the big winner of 2024--the P.O.Y. (Pick of the Year) Award, I have a few other awards to hand out--my own version of the Razzie Awards.

The Penny For Your Thoughts [and mine aren't very good] Award goes to The Penny Detective by John Tallon Jones. I really wanted to give this a glowing review. One of my Secret Santas in 2016 sent me this and the second Penny Detective novel as part of my gift. But I just couldn't do it. I'm not a huge private eye/hardboiled detective fan, but when I do read them I want them to be good. And this one just wasn't. I assume the title is a reference to how much Morris Shannon's services are worth, because he certainly isn't a very good PI. Of course, he really hasn't been all that good or dedicated at any of the jobs he's had up till now, so why would opening up his own private detective business be any different? If he didn't have his ex-cop bestie Shoddy to do his leg work, he wouldn't be solving anything ever....

The Where's Waldo Award goes to Kill the Boss Good-by by Peter Rabe. Rabe has the honor of earning the only one-star rating I handed out last year (the previous award winner came close with 1.5 stars). The only thing it had going for it was an interesting look at the psychotic boss's descent into madness--but there was no detective, no clues, and nearly no mystery in sight. I had pretty good success with the Waldo books--but Rabe hid all hints of a good mystery where I doubt anyone could find them. If gang-land shoot-em-ups are your thing, then this may be for you. But there are better examples of those out there than this.

The Sleeping Pill Award goes to The Moneypenny Diaries by Kate Westbrook. This is meant to read like nonfiction--with Jane's niece supposedly going to all kinds of trouble to cross-reference and prove the validity of all these incidents. Which makes this read like a dry-as-dust historical account for about 90% of the book. It would be a heck of a lot more interesting if the story had just been told through Moneypenny's diaries and without all the footnotes and editorializing by Jane Moneypenny's niece. It has a great hook--with Moneypenny wanting to investigate what really happened to her father--but really poor execution.

Sleeping Schoolboy Reading a book by J. B. Greuze

The It's So Secret I Can't Even Tell Myself Award and the Math for No Reason Award both go to H. F. Wood for The Passenger from Scotland Yard. So....according to E. F. Bleiler, who provides the introduction to Wood's novel, this is the best detective novel between Poe and Doyle (and he doesn't really count Doyle's longer works because they are "detective short stories tacked onto historical romances"). I have to say--if this was the best thing going, I'm surprised detective fiction took off at all. Because Wood has a bizarre narrative style. Yes, a detective novelist is trying to pull the wool over the reader's eyes in an effort to surprise her with the solution at the end...but never have I read a book where the detective (here, Inspector Byde) almost seems intent on keeping the clues secret from himself. He never refers to any of his suspects by name, always using the most circuitous methods of description to indicate who he's talking about. And his obsession with mathematical theorems were enough to make me want to pull my hair out. 

And now...the moment we've all been waiting for...the presentation of the Mystery Pick of the Year! This has been a tough decision for our judges this year. If I go purely by the star-rating, then it's obvious that Murder & Mendelssohn is the winner with the only 4.5 rating (there were no five-star winners which were not rereads this year). And the review is a strong one. But Helen McCloy gave a great introduction to Basil Willing in a very solid, fairly-clued mystery. And Harlan Coben surprised with an out-of-our comfort zone mystery that tempts me to go back and read the series from the beginning (that doesn't happen very often). 

So...after much deliberation (drum roll please), I'm pleased to present the P.O.Y. Award to Think Twice by Harlan Coben!

Christmas Books (& more) Extravaganza

 

I hope that all the folks on my Block have had/are having a very Merry Christmas or are celebrating their own holiday traditions in the very happiest way. Once again all the Santas in my life have been very generous and have provided me with more of my favorite things (primarily books!) Below is a run-down of the goodies that came my way this year. It looks like I was a very good girl again. 

The first to arrive was my Secret Santa from Michelle's True Book Addict's Bookish Secret Santa group on Facebook. Ryan sent me a box full of treats (including Tribble Kibble mints) and...

...The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

Next up was our departmental staff and administrators holiday party.

My director went for my love of classic Star Trek and got me the "beaming" mug which sends Kirk, Spock, McCoy, & Uhura beaming from the ship's transporter room to the planet's surface and back again via the wonders of hot and cold temperatures. I've looked at it longingly for ages, but could never justify getting it for myself...Thanks, Jesse!

And in our Secret Santa exchange, Robert gave me a 3-in-1 Detective Book Club edition with Alias Basil Willing by Helen McCloy, Accident by Design by E. C. R. Lorac, and  The Watch Sinister by Marie Blizard as well as a reprint copy of Obelists at Sea by C. Daly King.

Christmas from my parents:

A Treasury of Great Recipes 50th Anniversary Edition by Mary & Vincent Price

What Cannot Be Said by C. S. Harris

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (audiobook read by Hugh Fraser)

The High Kings (self-named music CD)

The World of Miss Marple jigsaw puzzle

From my son:

The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards

The Chief Inspector's Daughter by Sheila Radley

The Knife by Herbert Adams

And from my most generous Santa Hubby:

Hanged for a Sheep by Frances & Richard Lockridge (hardback w/DJ!!)

A Pinch of Poison by the Lockridges (a hardback I never thought to see...for a reasonable price)

Judas Incorporated by Kurt Steel (Dell Mapback!)

Death Plays Solitaire by R. L. Goldman

Murder Without Clues by Joseph L. Bonney

Slay Me a Sinner by Pierre Audemars

Tincture of Death by Ray Harrison

Season for Death by Harrison

Deathwatch by Harrison

Harvest of Death by Harrison

And a huge lot of Raven House books:

Death Audit by James A. Howard

Murder Takes a Wife by Howard

Clutterkill by Gary Paulsen

Dividend on Death by Brett Halliday

Deadly Legacy by Christina Blake

April Thirtieth by Bernard St. James

The Doria Rafe Case by Hilary Waugh

Crimes Past by Mary Challis

Rain with Violence by Dell Shannon

Where There's a Will by Anne Burton

The Cana Diversion by William Campbell Gault

They Love Not Poison by Sara Woods

Murder by Proxy by George Ogan

The Healthy Grave by Margaret Leake

Art for Keeps by C. Burke Block

Murder in Focus by Robert Julian

A Shroud for Mr. Bundy by James M. Fox

The Wheel Is Fixed by James M. Fox

The Bad Samaritan by William Campbell Gault

Send Another Hearse by Harold Q. Masur

Classified Death by Claire Taschdjian

The Cana Diversion by William Campbell Gault (alternate cover)

Run from Nightmare by Maxine O'Callaghan

The Ghost of an Idea by Mary Challis

Top Level Death by Hugh Zachary

And one 4-in-1 Unicorn Mystery Club Edition:

Savage Breast/Map of Mistrust/Paul's Apartment/Love Lies Bleeding

~Manning Long/Allan MacKinnan/Van Siller/Edmund Crispin

Fun for Monday...on Tuesday (aka Book Procrastination)

 

Not only do I not read books as quickly as I buy them...I run late on memes that talk about books that I don't read as quickly as I buy them.

I found this meme over at Bookforager and decided that I just needed to do it as well. It was originally created by Liesl Brunner at Quote, Unquote and the rules are as follows:

• Link back to the original post at Quote, Unquote so the creator can read your answers
• Link back to the post of the person who tagged you and thank them – thank you Bookforager!
• You may use the included graphic anywhere in your post, but you don’t have to (see source post for graphic)
• Fill all seven categories
• You can either leave this tag open so anyone can do it or tag up to seven people [I'm leaving it open--if you see this post, then feel free to jump in!]

  A Classic Book You Have Been Meaning to Read Forever But Haven't Yet

 

 

The secret has been safe on my TBR shelves since 2013. One of these days, I may get around to uncovering what exactly old Wilkie is keeping from us. 

A Book On Your Shelf That You Haven't Read Yet

[Just one? According to Goodreads, there are 2,490 of them...]

 

For the books that I was a good girl and logged when I acquired them, it appears that Card's The Folk of the Fringe is one of those that have been languishing on the TBR mountain range for quite some time. (1990? Really? I'm sorry Paula [my BFF who gave this to me...]. I meant to read it sooner. Really.)

A Book Seven Eight Books That You Got Recently That You Haven't Read

[I upped the number from Bookforager's seven, so it would be even]

 

 

 

As mentioned above, I accumulate books at a far greater rate than I am able to read them. Here are just eight of the most recent to join the Hankins Library. Bookforager talks about promising to be "good" and not buy anymore books. I know that to be an empty promise before even making it...so...I don't bother. These three Detective Book Club 3-in-1 volumes; The Mystery of Nancy Drew; Blotto, Twinks & the Dead Dowager Duchess; Mycroft & Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage; Deadly Image; and The Country-House Burglar have all been added within the last three weeks...

 A Book You've Had Forever But Haven't Read

I don't know if 2006 counts as "forever," but Death Is Relative is a mystery that seems to have been hanging out at my house for the longest. 

A Book A Friend Recommended To You That You Haven't Read 

John @ Pretty Sinister Books thought I'd like this one so much that he even sent me a copy back in 2013. I haven't read it yet, John. But it's on the (ever-growing) list...

 

A Book You're Procrastinating On

[Um...that would be all 2,490 of them...wouldn't it?]

 

 

This is one of those books that I've always felt that, as an English major, I ought to read. But I'm not really an American Lit kind of girl. I much prefer British Literature. But maybe...just maybe I'll actually read the thing one of these days.

 So...how about you? What books have you been keeping on your TBR stack a little longer than intended?

Christmas on the Block

 

I know I'm a little late and it's not Christmas anymore, but the last of Christmas happened on New Year's Day and then I had to go back to work...and, well, now here we are about a week later. So, here's my annual Christmas book (and more) update. Better late than never. As always, the various Santas in my life have indulged me in my book-collecting/book-reading ways. I'm very spoiled!

Christmas from my Golden Age Book Group Secret Santa:

Murder at Government House  by Elspeth Huxley (1937; reprint)

Detective Ben by J. J. (Jefferson) Farjeon (1936; Collins White Circle edition)

The Hanging Captain by Henry Wade (1932; reprint)

Picture Miss Seeton by Heron Carvid (1968; reprint)

Murder Fantastical by Patricia Moyes (1967; reprint)

From the Facebook Secret Santa group sponsored by Michelle:

Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer (1956; reprint)

The Edinburgh Mystery & Other Tales of Scottish Crime by Martin Edwards (ed)

~~plus a Dr. McCoy bookmark and a library checkout card Christmas ornament

Christmas from my parents:

Making It So by Sir Patrick Stewart (2023)

Murder on the Orient Express: the Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie & Bob Al-Greene (2023)

The Gutenberg Murders by Gwen Bristow & Bruce Manning (1931; reprint)

~~plus Sherlock Holmes puzzle, beaver socks, beaver ornament, and a nostalgia Shaun Cassidy CD

From my inlaws:

Recipes for Murder by Karen Pierce (cookbook based on Agatha Christie stories)

These Names Make Clues by E.C.R. Lorac (1937; reprint)

~~plus a Hercule Poirot puzzle; a mystery puzzle (picture has clues to solve the mystery); and a new case/wallet for the fancy new phone

From my son:

The Listening Walls/The Girl Who Wouldn't Talk/A Key to the Morgue by Margaret Millar/Roy Vickers/Robert Martin (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

The Pale Horse/The Well-Dressed Skeleton/The Lady Finger by Agatha Christie/Brad Williams/George Malcolm-Smith (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Death in the Mind/Jethro Hammer/The Scarlet Button/Appointment in Manila by Richard Lockridge & George H. Estabrooks/Michael Venning/Anthony Gilbert/Elinor Chamberlain (4-in-1 Unicorn Mystery Club)

Wicked Water/The Cat Wears a Mask/The Innocent/The Leaden Bubble by MacKinlay Kantor/D. B. Olsen/Evelyn Piper/H. C. Branson (4-in-1 Unicorn Mystery Club)

And from my husband--who couldn't resist buying all the things I put in his Ebay watch file:

The Evil That Men Do/The Cat Who Could Read Backwards/No Peace for the Wicked by Hugh Pentecost/Lilian Jackson Braun/E. X. Ferrars (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

The Case of the Lazy Lover/Untidy Murder/Let the Tiger Die by Erle Stanley Gardner/Frances & Richard Lockridge/Manning Coles (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

The Case of the Spurious Spinster/The Killing Strike/Encounter with Evil by Gardner/John Creasey/Amber Dean (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

At Bertram's Hotel/A Business of Bodies/Conceal & Disguise by Agatha Christie/Stanton Forbes/Henry Kane (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Brothers of Silence/And One Cried Murder/Old Students Never Die by Frank Gruber/Lee Thayer/Ivan T. Ross (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

The Noose by Philip MacDonald (1930; reprint)

Suspense Stories selected by Alfred Hitchcock  (1945; this edition 1949 Dell Mapback #367)

The Farmhouse by Helen Reilly (1943; this edition 1950 Dell Mapback #397)

Lament for the Bride/The Cat & Capricorn/Blood Will Tell (aka Mrs. McGinty's Dead) by Helen Reilly/D. B. Olsen/Agatha Christie (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Lady, Be Careful!/Bones of Contention/So Young a Body by Christopher Reeve/Rae Foley/Frank Bunce (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

The White Dress/The Silent Speaker/The Hollow by Mignon G. Eberhart/ Rex Stout/Agatha Christie (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Stream Sinister/Murder on Angler's Island/Payoff for the Banker by Kathleen Moore Knight/Helen Reilly/Frances & Richard Lockridge (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Evidence of Things Seen/ Dark Duet/Lady in a Million by Elizabeth Daly/Peter Cheyney/Susannah Shane (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

You Can Die Laughing/Guilt Is Where You Find It/Reservations for Death by A. A. Fair/Lee Thayer/Baynard Kendrick (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Tell Her It's Murder/Coffin for Christopher/Don't Hang Me Too High by Helen Reilly/Delano Ames/J. B. O'Sullivan (3-in-1 Detective Book Club)

Girl Meets Body by Jack Iams (1947; this edition 1950 Dell Mapback #384)

Hanged for a Sheep by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1942; this edition 1948 Bantam #305)

Give Up the Ghost by Margaret Erskine (1949; reprint)

A Taste for Cognac by Brett Halliday (Dell 10 Cent)

You'll Never See Me Again by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich) (Dell 10 Cent)

The Best of 2023

 

This is a place to celebrate and review my reading journey over the last year. And...despite my reading rate going down a bit in the last two months, 2023 was still a pretty strong year for reading. For the third year in a row I managed to top 200 books read (which hadn't happened for quite a while before 2021). I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to plant my flag atop Mount Olympus on Mars in my Mount TBR Reading Challenge for a third year. Olympus (read at least 150 books from my own stacks) is my ultimate goal every year, even though my declared goal is Mount Everest (100 books). I made Everest and loaded up the rocket ship back in late September determined to visit Marvin Martian, but fell short of the final goal by 16 books. But I've shifted another 134 books off my TBR mountain range. Other victories included completing all of the challenge goals I set for myself for 2023 (all 39 of them!).Overall, a very satisfying year for this reader and challenge-aholic. I still don't visit my fellow bloggers as often as I used to (hardly at all--I'm sorry, folks!). I wish I could go back to the early days of the blog when I seemed to have time to read and write reviews and go visit all my virtual friends....why does the time seem to fly so much faster these days (and faster every year?

But...back to celebrating. Let's take a look at the year-end reading stats.

Total Books Read: 204

Books Owned & Read: 134

Pages Read: 48,001

Percentage of Rereads: 19%

Percentage of New-to-Me Authors: 33%

Percentage Mystery: 77%

Percentage Nonfiction: 7%

Percentage by Women: 45%

Percentage Written 2000+: 38%

Percentage Non-US/UK: 10%

Non-US/UK Authors: Argentinian, Australian, Belgian, Canadian, Canadian/Singapore, Czech Republic, Danish, Irish, Swedish, Trinidad

Non-US States/UK Settings: Australia, Austria China, Denmark, a Fantasy World, Fictitious European Country, France, Germany, Freece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Middle East (unspecified), Outer Space, Poland, Ship (Atlantic Ocean), South America (unspecified), Sweden, Tanzania, Trinidad, Turkey

Top Vintage Mysteries of 2023 (no rereads)

The Fear Sign by Margery Allingham (Golden Age, 1933; 4 stars)

Psycho by Robert Bloch (Golden Age, 1959; 4 stars)

Death Turns the Tables by John Dickson Carr (Golden Age, 1941; 4 stars)

The Four False Weapons by Carr (Golden Age, 1937; 4 stars)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Golden Age, 1939; 4 stars)

Sound of Revelry by Octavus Roy Cohen (Golden Age, 1943; 4 stars)

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (Silver Age [Fantasy/Mystery], 1965; 4 stars)

Murder for Two by George Harmon Coxe (Golden Age, 1943; 4 stars)

Murder on the Purple Water by Frances Crane (Golden Age, 1947; 4 stars)

The Case Against Paul Raeburn by John Creasey (Golden Age, 1948; 4 stars)

The Figure in the Dusk by John Creasey (Golden Age, 1951; 4 stars)

Inspector West Kicks Off by John Creasey (Golden Age, 1949; 4 stars)

And So to Murder by Carter Dickson (Golden Age, 1940; 4 stars)

The White Priory Murders by Dickson (Golden Age, 1934; 4 stars)

The Angry Heart by Leslie Edgley (Golden Age, 1947; 4 stars)

Black Friday by David Goodis (Golden Age, 1954; 4 stars)

Death Among Friends & Other Detective Stories by Cyril Hare (Golden Age, 1959; 4 stars)

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery as edited by Hitchcock [Robert Arthur] (Silver Age, 1962; 4 stars)

The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson (Golden Age, 1942; 4 stars)

Blind Man's Bluff by Baynard Kendrick (Golden Age, 1943; 4 stars)

Here Come the Dead by Robert Portner Koehler (Golden Age, 1942; 4 stars)

The Birthday Murder by Lange Lewis (Golden Age, 1945; 4 stars)

Bats in the Belfry by E. C. R. Lorac (Golden Age, 1937; 4 stars)

Who Is Simon Warwick by Patricia Moyes (Silver Age,1978; 4.5 stars)

Line-Up edited by John Rhode (Golden Age, 1940; 4 stars)

Beauty Marks the Spot by Kelley Roos (Golden Age, 1948; 4 stars)

Secret of the Old Post Box by Dorothy Sterling (Silver Age, 1960; 4 stars)

The Professor Knits a Shroud by Wirt Van Arsdale (Golden Age, 1951; 4 stars)

Inquest by Percival Wilde (Golden Age, 1940; 4 stars)

Top Modern Mysteries 2023 (no rereads)

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian (2022; 5 stars)

Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards (2022; 4.5 stars)

Who Cries for the Lost by C. S. Harris (2023; 5 stars)

Hemlock Hollow by Culley Holderfield (2022; 4 stars)

A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang (2018; 4 stars)

The Mistletoe Murder & Other Stories by P. D. James (2016; 4 stars)

Fear Nothing Vol. 1 by Dean Koontz (2010; 4 stars)

Death & the Conjuror by Tom Mead (2022; 4.5 stars)

The Red Death Murders by Jim Noy (2022; 4.5 stars)

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (2022; 4 stars)

Murder in Bloomsbury by D. M. Quincy (2018; 4 stars)

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (2022; 4 stars)

A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton (2022; 4 stars)

Top Fiction 2023 (no rereads)

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott (5 stars)

Wild Seed by Octavia E, Butler (5 stars)

Piranesi by Susannah Clarke (4 stars)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (5 stars)

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars)

I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison/Isaac Asimov (4 stars)

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (4 stars)

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (4.5 stars)

Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of N.I.M.H. by Robert O'Brien (5 stars)

Pax by Sara Pennypacker (4 stars)

Alif the Unseen by Wilson, G. Willow (4 stars)

Top Nonfiction 2023 (no rereads)

My Pocket Meditations for Self-Compassion by Courtney E. Ackerman (4 stars)

Mental Illness During the First World War by Charles Glass (4 stars)

John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles by Douglas G. Greene (4 stars)

The Art of the Mystery Story edited by Howard Haycraft (4 stars)

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (4 stars)

Packing My Library by Alberto Manguel (4 stars)

Number One Is Walking by Steve Martin (4 stars)

Nala's World by Dean Nicholson (4 stars)

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (4 stars)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (4 stars)

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei et al. (5 stars)

Monthly P.O.M. (Pick of the Month) Award Winners

January: A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang

February: The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

March: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

April: Inquest by Percival Wilde

May: Line-Up by John Rhode (ed)

June: And Be a Villain by Rex Stout

July: The Birthday Murder by Lange Lewis

August: The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson

September: Who Is Simon Warwick? by Patricia Moyes

October: Death & the Conjuror by Tom Mead

November: The Red Death Murders by Jim Noy

December: Blindman's Bluff by Baynard Kendrick

Now...before we move on to the big winner of 2023--the P.O.Y. (Pick of the Year) Award, I have a few other awards to hand out--my own version of the Razzie Awards.

The This Isn't What Alternate Universes Are For Award goes to Dead, Mr. Mozart by Benard Bastable. Bastable (aka Robert Barnard) goes to all the trouble to invent a world where Mozart doesn't die in 1791 and sets him to investigating a murder. But...Mozart's not very good at it and he's not even very interesting as a poor detective. The mystery plot itself is also not much--you think there's going to be all this political intrigue surrounding the new King George and his controversial Queen, but that just sortof fizzles. The murder is pointless. The detective work is pointless. And the extension of Mozart's life for this story...pointless.

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The So, You Died & I Don't Care Award goes to Skippy Dies (aka Hopeland) by Paul Murray. The whole point of story is that Skippy dies (this isn't a spoiler--it happens practically on the first page) and the rest of the story is supposed to be finding out why.  But my library had gotten its hands on the boxed set of Murray's little saga which breaks Skippy Dies into three separate books. If I want to find out everything, I apparently need to read two more books. I'm afraid that's not gonna happen. I gave it the ol' college try, but male teenage angst, especially when some of it is still being had by a thirty-something history teacher named Howard the Coward just doesn't seem to be my thing. It doesn't help that it's written in the present tense and it skips around among the characters. I really wanted to like this. I didn't want to let Katie (who recommended it) down. But Skippy, I'm sorry, I just can't wade through two more books with all these characters to find out why you died. 

The I Don't Like Stream of Consciousness Writing Even When It's Good [spoiler alert, the winner isn't] Award goes to: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I don't even know where to begin with this. There is so much here that just isn't my cup of tea. It's told in the first person. It's a coming of age story about a boy that I can't have any sympathy for despite the fact that I'm very sorry that his mother was killed in a horrible terrorist bombing. I mean later in his story we spend pages on him and his burned out druggie friend in Las Vegas. His narrative just goes on and on and on and there's so much detail and "near-stream-of-consciousness, why on earth is he telling me this" stuff crammed into this 700-page doorstop that I tuned out regularly. 

The Sherlock Holmes, You Ain't Award goes to Sidney Chambers & the Perils of the Night by James Runcie. Sidney Chambers just isn't doing if for me. I wasn't all that excited about his debut when I read it two years ago, but I wanted to give him another chance. The most endearing thing about the man is he brings up Lord Peter Wimsey in the cricket match story. But, overall, my view of these stories still stands--the characters just don't grab me and I don't buy Chambers as an amateur detective. His style is all just talk to people and somehow he magically just knows what happened and is (according to Grantchester lore) "never wrong." The conversations he has with people just don't make a great deal of sense to me. They seem to be full of non sequiturs that don't connect in any way to what Chambers is investigating. I realize that some people do throw non sequiturs into conversations...but not every single conversation and not every single person you meet. 

And finally (this one is spoilerish, so I tried to mask the spoiler part--highlight the apparently empty space before the picture if interested)..the Ghosts Get Into Everything Award goes to Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott. There is so much here that could have made a great mystery/thriller. I'm not a huge fan of stories from the past that somehow connect up with modern events, but it does work sometimes. Not here. The book starts out with Elizabeth's death. I was all set to have Lydia take up the reins of finishing the book and, in the course of her research, actually discover who killed Elizabeth. Oh she does....but it was a ghost. A freaking ghost. 

Now the moment we've all been waiting for...the presentation of the Mystery Pick of the Year! Of course, if the judges look purely at the star ratings, there's only one five-star winner in the mystery category this year which is not a reread or by a previous winner: Chris Bohjalian's The Lioness. This was one of the books I read for the 12 Challenge (goal--gather 12 recommendations from 12 friends and read those books to complete the Challenge. The Lioness came highly recommended by Audrey Nye Hamilton and it did not disappoint. As I said in my review: An absolutely beautifully written bloodbath. So many unnecessary violent deaths--so many. Generally speaking this type of book is not my type of book. BUT Bohjalian can write. Man, can he write. I was sucked right in from the beginning and even the high body count couldn't keep me from turning the pages to find out what happened next. I'm no expert on Africa of the 1960s, but the historical research seems solid and information about the time is introduced in such a way that it never felt like an info dump. The narrative also makes clear that Bohjalian participated in an African safari himself--the scenery and animals come vividly to life on the page. He also manages the multiple points of view superbly. Each chapter focuses on one of nine characters, giving the reader a panoramic view of the story to match the vast countryside. Overall, an outstanding experience. 

So congratulations to our big winner for the year!