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As promised…text for Tuesday’s post!

On Tuesday I posted a few pictures from spending the day at Mysterious Galaxy’s 20th birthday celebration. As promised, here’s the text to go with the photos. 😉

MG

I was fortunate enough to attend Avery Aames (Daryl Wood Gerber) and Rochelle Staab’s author presentation before their book signing (they were both so gracious). I had read A Long Quiche Goodbye a while back and was looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

The part I enjoyed the best was listening to them talk about how their books take shape and how readers have become so invested. I particularly enjoyed Avery’s story about having encountered numerous folks from Wisconsin wanting to know why The Cheese Shop Mysteries are set in Ohio.

I am looking forward to reading the Mind for Murder books. I picked up a copy of Who Do, Voodoo at the signing–I’m the kind of reader who likes to start with the first book in the series whenever possible.

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I was patient and waited to pick up Dead, White, and Blue from Mysterious Galaxy on Saturday instead of running out on Tuesday. I also bought two other “firsts”: Liz Lippeman’s Beef Stolen-Off and Victoria Hamilton’s A Deadly Grind. I’m going to have to upgrade my to-read bedside basket to a to-read bedside steamer trunk soon!

The rest of my weekend haul included all The Cheese Shop Mysteries and Lucy Burdette’s Topped Chef. I had loaned my copy of A Long Quiche Goodbye to a friend so I decided to just buy another copy.

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Trivia Time: As you know, I am a big Murder, She Wrote fan so you can imagine how tickled I was to find that Avery Aames (as Daryl Lynn Wood) was on the “Simon Says, Color Me Dead”).

I am two-thirds through my (re)reading of A Long Quiche Goodbye and Tuesday’s post will be my review along with a new section of the blog!

In honor of Throwback Thursday, what was your first book?

Gingin Exorcist

Have a good weekend, everyone! See you Tuesday!

 
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Posted by on May 16, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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My weekend in pictures…

I spent this past Saturday at Mysterious Galaxy‘s 20th birthday celebration. Check out a few pictures I took…text to be provided on Thursday. 🙂

MG

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See you in a few days!

P.S. I decided to reread Avery Aamess’ A Long Quiche Goodbye since it’s been a little while. So far, the book is as fun as I remember. I may use my review to introduce a new blog section I’ve been noodling with for a while. Oh, my copy The Bletchley Circle is in the mail!

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Murder at Castle Rock and New Book Tuesday

A little while ago, I had the opportunity to read and review Anne Marie Stoddard’s Murder at Castle Rock as part of Cozy Mystery Book Reviews. Here is the link to my review on the CMBR page. Murder at Castle Rock is Anne Marie Stoddard’s first novel and I look forward to reading more of her work.

AMS Cover

(Photo taken from Anne Marie Stoddard’s website
.)

If you are a cozy mystery fan haven’t already checked out CMBR’s page, you’re missing out on a wonderful community and resource–so make sure you do so ASAP!

I’ve been slowly getting into a blogging rhythm, so to speak. What I’ve found works for me is posting at the beginning and end of the work week. I’ll probably post on Monday/Tuesday and again on Thursday/Friday going forward. Weekends will be for me to find fun things to tell you about at the start of the week. 😉 Stay tuned for my final post on “The Bletchley Circle” (although I’m sure I’ll be referring to the show numerous time in future posts–I’m a little obsessed).

I’m going to spend the rest of the week speed-reading my way through Lost and Fondue, the second installment in Avery Aames’ Cheese Shop Mysteries. She will be signing at Mysterious Galaxy’s 20th birthday celebration this weekend and I will be buying her latest book then. We are going to make a day of it, as my husband is looking forward to the afternoon signings, which include John Scalzi and Vernor Vinge.

Lastly, it’s New Book Tuesday! I am particularly excited because Carolyn Hart’s Dead, White, and Blue (her 50th!) is being released today. The other books I’m hoping to pick up at Mysterious Galaxy this weekend are Victoria Thompson’s Murder in Chelsea (also being released today–I’m working on being more patient and waiting until Saturday 🙂 ) and Liz Lipperman’s Heard it Through the Grapevine. What new releases are you looking forward to?

See you at the end of the week!

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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April’s Fantastic Firsts from Mysterious Galaxy

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

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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Cozies, Coming Soon, and Fantastic Firsts!

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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