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April’s Fantastic Firsts from Mysterious Galaxy

24 Apr

As I mentioned previously, I signed up for Mysterious Galaxy‘s Fantastic Firsts Cozy Mystery Series Starters. If you’re in San Diego and have not stopped by Mysterious Galaxy, you are missing out on this town’s best bookstore!

I realize that April is almost over (yikes), but I wanted to share this month’s book, J.J. Cook’s (a/k/a Joyce and Jim Lavene), That Old Flame of Mine:

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(photo from Mysterious Galaxy’s website)

This is a complete first for me as I have not read any of the Lavenes’ other series, and I am looking forward to a new book and author. I am clearly not going to be posting my thoughts on this book before the month is out, but will do so very soon.

If you’ve read That Old Flame of Mine, I’d love to hear from you. Hope your week is going well–we’re halfway to the weekend!

P.S. In addition to the Cozy Mystery Series Starters, Mysterious Galaxy has five other Fantastic Firsts Book Clubs so check those out as well.

 
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Posted by on April 24, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Seeing Double and The Bletchley Circle

22 Apr

I am a compulsive book buyer. I am also a compulsive book carrier. I don’t even want to hazard a guess as to how many times my mother said to me when I was younger, “leave your book at home. You’re supposed to be talking to people.” This need to have a book on hand is probably the reason you’ll rarely catch me carrying a small purse–it at least has to fit a book or my Kindle. Actually, make that a book AND my Kindle. I like to carry both. 😉

Lately, however, my book buying habit has moved to a whole new level. My “to read” pile has gotten so large that I’ve bought duplicate copies of certain books. One of my recent purchases at Mysterious Galaxy was Scones and Bones, the twelfth installment in Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries. When I looked in my gym bag a few days later, guess what I found? Another copy of Scones and Bones, which I obviously put in there as an “emergency” book. I need to organize my shelves ASAP…or yesterday.

Here are a few of my duplicate purchases:
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You see the problem.

In other news…how awesome was The Bletchley Circle? So awesome that I am seriously considering buying the DVD so I don’t have to wait to see the remaining two episodes. I have a few things I need to get off my desk, but I will be back with an honest-to-goodness post on the first episode by the end of the week.

In case you missed it (or if you just want to watch it again like me), the episode is available online until April 28th.

Hope your week is off to a good start! If you did watch The Bletchley Circle, I’d love to hear what you thought.

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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“The Bletchley Circle” and why the next three Sunday nights just got a little more exciting

20 Apr

I am a Downton Abbey fan. I realize that makes me one of a gazillion people, so I won’t spend any more time on that. I also realize that if you’re one of the gazillion, you’ve probably spent a little time trying to remember what you did on Sunday nights pre-Downton. I was starting to get into Death in Paradise, which was airing right after Downton at the beginning of Season Three, but it has since disappeared from my local PBS station’s schedule. Sigh.

Thankfully, I’ve found the answer…at least for the next three Sundays. Starting tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. (please check your local listings, though, as “PBS schedule expert” is nowhere to be found on my resume), PBS is airing The Bletchley Circle. It’s about a group of women who secretly worked as code breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II and reunite years later to catch a serial killer. Is it Sunday night yet? How can you not look forward to this series?

I’ll be back after tomorrow with my thoughts on The Bletchley Circle and would love to hear what you think if you tuned in.

P.S. A blogger (whose blog I love) recently posted that watching Downton made her want to say, “m’lady” afterwards and wanted to know if that happened to anyone else. Sadly, what happens to me is that I want someone else to call me “m’lady” after I watch an episode. And bring me tea and scones. Oh well.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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On the Road…to The Mysterious Bookshop!

15 Apr

I recently traveled to the NY/NJ area to visit family and paid my first (but definitely not my last) visit to The Mysterious Bookshop, one of the oldest mystery bookstores in the country.

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It was perfect, down to the comfy couch in the middle of the room. The staff may still be wiping my drool off the place. 😉 Sadly, The Mysterious Bookshop is one of the last (if not the last) mystery bookstore in Manhattan. Murder Ink, Partners in Crime, and the Black Orchid Bookshop have all closed their doors.

I did find a first edition of Ellery Queen’s Queen’s Bureau of Investigation that was within my not-yet-unlimited book budget:

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I also found two other Ellery Queen novels:

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I have not read any of these books so I am VERY excited to get started! I actually got hooked on Ellery Queen via the 1970s TV series that I found while channel surfing years ago (I’m thinking A&E, but don’t quote me on that). The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, who also created Murder, She Wrote and Columbo (only two of my favorite shows EVER). Jim Hutton (that’s Timothy Hutton’s dad, in case it ever comes up at cocktail parties or during a game of Trivial Pursuit) was exactly how I’d imagined Ellery to be. More fun (to me, and hopefully to you) trivia: David Wayne, who played Inspector Richard Queen, also appeared in the Murder, She Wrote episode, “Murder Takes the Bus.” Now, aren’t you glad you stopped by? 😉

Of course, as a cozy fan, I couldn’t pass this up: 🙂

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What are you reading nowadays? I’m always on the lookout for new authors/books and would love to hear from you. If you want to just geek out with me, I’d love to hear from you too!

P.S. If you do get invited to cocktail parties where Murder, She Wrote, Ellery Queen, and similar trivia come up on a regular basis, please let me know. You are clearly my long-lost friend.

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Cozies, Coming Soon, and Fantastic Firsts!

31 Mar

Welcome!

For those of you who are meeting me via this blog, I’ve been reading mysteries for as long as I can remember. I’ve also been talking about them for as I can remember as well 🙂 so a blog seemed like a good idea. I started out (as I’m sure some of you did, too) with Nancy Drew and The Bobbsey Twins and never stopped. I remember discovering Agatha Christie’s books in my elementary school library–I don’t think I moved from that section for the rest of the day!

I am partial to cozy mysteries, especially Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series. Her heroine, Annie Darling, runs a mystery bookstore so you get to read a great mystery AND get recommendations for your next book! If you’re a cozy fan–or just want to know more about this sub-genre–check out Cozy Mystery Book Reviews.

I have just started reading The Notting Hill Mystery, which is now believed to be the first English detective novel. (I thought of linking to the Wikipedia entry for it, but it does give away the ending–look it up at your own risk.) In the spirit in which it was originally released, I will be posting my thoughts as I finish each section (in between other books, of course). I tend to take longer to read books that are narrated via letters, mostly because I start thinking of how I should be writing more letters.

In the meantime, check out Paul Collins’ 2011 New York Times essay, “The Case of the First Mystery Novelist.”

Stay tuned!

In other news:

If you’re in the Southern California area, check Mysterious Galaxy’s (San Diego’s best bookstore) Fantastic Firsts Book Clubs.

I just signed up for the Cozy Mysteries Starter Series (obviously) and picked up The Christie Curse over the weekend.

I leave you with a picture of my beside “to read” basket. It does not (by a long shot) include all the books I own that I still need to read, but I like keeping a number by my nightstand. If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Till next time!

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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