Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 400

poohbear_nc · 08-15-2010, 05:34 PM

Just finishing up "Death of a Cozy Writer" by G. M. Malliet.

Wow!
Let me repeat Wow!

[Last time I publically wowed was for Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island"]

It won the 2008 Agatha Award for best first novel.

Imagine a novel taking all ... repeat ALL ... of the standard cliches, tropes, themes, etc. of cozy mystery novels .... mixing them all together ... with loads of humor [Here's a sample line: "... she mumbled again. "Thank you." wondering if the little skip in her heart was happiness or an impending seizure."]

and making it work!

A dysfunctional family summoned at Christmas time back to the home manor by a hated father who keeps changing his will. A new wife. A murder in the past. Displays of medieval weapons. Everyone lying. Snowed in during the murders. Identities within identities within identities. Servants who know more than they should. Murder on top of murder.

And one of the victims was [gasp!] an author of cozy mysteries who stole his plots from Christie but "his were better."

And ... a detective St. Just accompanied by Sgt. Fear?

Simply marvelous. I can't even begin to unpack all the not-so-veiled references to past classic cozy mysteries.

This is one fun read. I don't want it to end, but have already loaded up my reader with the rest of her oeuvre!

Brava!

recluse · 08-15-2010, 07:33 PM

Just finished "The Land of Laughs" by Jonathan Carroll.
The obsessed fan of a reclusive children's author decides to write a biography of his hero. Upon arriving in the late author's hometown, he quickly learns that things are not what they appear to be.
Combining elements of fantasy and horror, this novel is a masterful modern American Gothic and highly recommended.

bjones6416 · 08-15-2010, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Just finishing up "Death of a Cozy Writer" by G. M. Malliet.

Wow!
Let me repeat Wow!

[Last time I publically wowed was for Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island"]

It won the 2008 Agatha Award for best first novel.

I think I need to look for this one. Did you get it from Amazon?

poohbear_nc · 08-15-2010, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

I think I need to look for this one. Did you get it from Amazon?

Yeah - they have 3 of her books there!

jgaiser · 08-15-2010, 09:01 PM

I've mentioned I'm on a Civil War thing right now.

It started with a chance find of Confederates in the Attic, a non-fiction book on the modern South's obsession with the American Civil War. Not yet finished, but this is an interesting book and I'll comment more when I'm finished.

The author interviewed Shelby Foote on one of his visits south, which led me to Foote's "Shiloh" and "The Civil War: A Narrative". Neither are available, legally, in ebook format, so I picked up both in paper. Neither started yet.

Also mentioned in a chapter titled "Civil Wargasm" (I love some of Tony's chapter titles) was Ambrose Bierce, who served with Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Project Gutenberg has a couple collected works including " In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" which includes the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". How have I missed this author? Managed to read the first two stories (including Owl Creek Bridge) this afternoon and they are amazing. Can't wait to finish the book.

Highly recommended.

bjones6416 · 08-15-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Yeah - they have 3 of her books there!

Thanks -- I've put it on my wishlist there so I won't forget it next time I'm ready to buy something.

I just finished a book that was offered free on Amazon a couple of weeks ago, although I see that it's not free now -- The Goddess of Fried Okra by Jean Brashear. I thoroughly enjoyed it -- a sweet little story of sisters and small towns and Texas. Grab it if it comes around free again!

montsnmags · 08-15-2010, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlparker

Does The Year of the Flood only make sense if you've read Oryx and Crake first?

I haven't ever read any of Atwood's books--is there a better place to start than either of these two?

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlparker

Uh oh, is that "Literary" with a capital-L?

Scary!

But the Kindle price is right, so I might give 'er a try. Thanks for the recommendation!

I've read a bit of Atwood myself, and I would rate Oryx and Crake and The Handmaid's Tale as the best introductions to Atwood. As "literature" (as I empathetically gather from what you say, and your emoticons), they are, to me, along the lines of readability as 1984 or Brave New World (I don't mean in theme...more just that which you, me, or marketers, might call "literary science/speculative fiction". No snobbery intended, just striving for adequate descriptors that might illuminate the style).

I've not read The Year Of The Flood yet, but I have read some of her others. The others I've read (eg. Cat's Eye) tend towards what you might find in the Literature section of your average marketer-driven bookshop. If that's not your thing at the moment, I probably wouldn't start there. You may end up there though, if you read, for instance, the (IMO) very good Oryx and Crake, because she is, indeed, quite a (again, IMO) fabulous writer.

Cheers,
Marc

WT Sharpe · 08-15-2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I've mentioned I'm on a Civil War thing right now.

It started with a chance find of Confederates in the Attic, a non-fiction book on the modern South's obsession with the American Civil War. Not yet finished, but this is an interesting book and I'll comment more when I'm finished.

The author interviewed Shelby Foote on one of his visits south, which led me to Foote's "Shiloh" and "The Civil War: A Narrative". Neither are available, legally, in ebook format, so I picked up both in paper. Neither started yet.

Also mentioned in a chapter titled "Civil Wargasm" (I love some of Tony's chapter titles) was Ambrose Bierce, who served with Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Project Gutenberg has a couple collected works including " In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" which includes the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". How have I missed this author? Managed to read the first two stories (including Owl Creek Bridge) this afternoon and they are amazing. Can't wait to finish the book.

Highly recommended.

I loved the short-story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." I can think of nothing to say that wouldn't be a bit of a spoiler, except that I saw it done as a short play on a PBS program once. Even to say

Spoiler:

would be to give something away, so let me just say I highly recommend it. I also liked Bierce's book, The Devil's Dictionary (1906), although some parts offended my modern sensibilities. His definition of "Labor" is a classic.

Here are a few of my favorite entries from The Devil's Dictionary:

ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.

ACCIDENT, n. An inevitable occurrence due to the action of immutable natural laws.

CLAIRVOYANT, n. A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron, namely, that he is a blockhead.

CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.

DEBT, n. An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave-driver.

LABOR, n. One of the processes by which A acquires property for B.

LOVE, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.

MYTHOLOGY, n. The body of a primitive people’s beliefs concerning its origin, early history, heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished from the true accounts which it invents later.

REASON, v.i. To weight probabilities in the scales of desire.

jgaiser · 08-15-2010, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I loved the short-story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." I can think of nothing to say that wouldn't be a bit of a spoiler, except to say that I saw it done as a short play on a PBS program once.

Yes.. The ending is a "What?..." But even the first story in the collection "A Horseman in the Sky" is a shocker and the third story "Chickamauga" seems to be another shocker from reviews on the net. These stories were written more than 100 years ago and could easily have been written by current suspense authors. I'm going to have to pay more attention to Mr. Bierce.

recluse · 08-15-2010, 10:07 PM

If you enjoy Ambrose Bierce, I highly recommend "Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company" by Roy Morris, Jr. An excellent biography.

jgaiser · 08-15-2010, 10:16 PM

Looking through MR's listing I see that "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is available here in Kindle format.

lilac_jive · 08-15-2010, 10:26 PM

I'm a little over halfway through "Beautiful Lies" by Lisa Unger, which I picked up for 99 cents at the Sony store (I think it's still available at that price). Not something I'd normally pick up, but for that price I figured I'd give it a shot. Hooked so far!

jgaiser · 08-15-2010, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by recluse

If you enjoy Ambrose Bierce, I highly recommend "Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company" by Roy Morris, Jr. An excellent biography.

No Kindle version and the paperback is $40.49..

I'm not that interested in Ambrose Bierce..

recluse · 08-15-2010, 10:47 PM

Sorry about that.
I got the hardcover for $5 about 10 years ago.

sceadugenga · 08-15-2010, 11:00 PM

I'm reading Leslie Thomas' "Waiting For The Day" in hard copy. After that I've got the Stieg Larsson "Girl" trilogy, also in hard copy, waiting.
Still yet to read a book on my new eBook reader.

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08-15-2010, 05:34 PM	#5986
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,580 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Just finishing up "Death of a Cozy Writer" by G. M. Malliet. Wow! Let me repeat Wow! [Last time I publically wowed was for Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island"] It won the 2008 Agatha Award for best first novel. Imagine a novel taking all ... repeat ALL ... of the standard cliches, tropes, themes, etc. of cozy mystery novels .... mixing them all together ... with loads of humor [Here's a sample line: "... she mumbled again. "Thank you." wondering if the little skip in her heart was happiness or an impending seizure."] and making it work! A dysfunctional family summoned at Christmas time back to the home manor by a hated father who keeps changing his will. A new wife. A murder in the past. Displays of medieval weapons. Everyone lying. Snowed in during the murders. Identities within identities within identities. Servants who know more than they should. Murder on top of murder. And one of the victims was [gasp!] an author of cozy mysteries who stole his plots from Christie but "his were better." And ... a detective St. Just accompanied by Sgt. Fear? Simply marvelous. I can't even begin to unpack all the not-so-veiled references to past classic cozy mysteries. This is one fun read. I don't want it to end, but have already loaded up my reader with the rest of her oeuvre! Brava!

08-15-2010, 07:33 PM	#5987
recluse Banned Posts: 3,724 Karma: 535488 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: the Mortuary Device: Kindle 2	Just finished "The Land of Laughs" by Jonathan Carroll. The obsessed fan of a reclusive children's author decides to write a biography of his hero. Upon arriving in the late author's hometown, he quickly learns that things are not what they appear to be. Combining elements of fantasy and horror, this novel is a masterful modern American Gothic and highly recommended.

08-15-2010, 09:01 PM	#5990
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,283 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	I've mentioned I'm on a Civil War thing right now. It started with a chance find of Confederates in the Attic, a non-fiction book on the modern South's obsession with the American Civil War. Not yet finished, but this is an interesting book and I'll comment more when I'm finished. The author interviewed Shelby Foote on one of his visits south, which led me to Foote's "Shiloh" and "The Civil War: A Narrative". Neither are available, legally, in ebook format, so I picked up both in paper. Neither started yet. Also mentioned in a chapter titled "Civil Wargasm" (I love some of Tony's chapter titles) was Ambrose Bierce, who served with Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Project Gutenberg has a couple collected works including " In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" which includes the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". How have I missed this author? Managed to read the first two stories (including Owl Creek Bridge) this afternoon and they are amazing. Can't wait to finish the book. Highly recommended.

08-15-2010, 10:07 PM	#5995
recluse Banned Posts: 3,724 Karma: 535488 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: the Mortuary Device: Kindle 2	If you enjoy Ambrose Bierce, I highly recommend "Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company" by Roy Morris, Jr. An excellent biography.

08-15-2010, 10:16 PM	#5996
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,283 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	Looking through MR's listing I see that "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is available here in Kindle format.

08-15-2010, 10:26 PM	#5997
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I'm a little over halfway through "Beautiful Lies" by Lisa Unger, which I picked up for 99 cents at the Sony store (I think it's still available at that price). Not something I'd normally pick up, but for that price I figured I'd give it a shot. Hooked so far!

08-15-2010, 10:47 PM	#5999
recluse Banned Posts: 3,724 Karma: 535488 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: the Mortuary Device: Kindle 2	Sorry about that. I got the hardcover for $5 about 10 years ago.

08-15-2010, 11:00 PM	#6000
sceadugenga Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 472136 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Chiang Rai Device: iPad	I'm reading Leslie Thomas' "Waiting For The Day" in hard copy. After that I've got the Stieg Larsson "Girl" trilogy, also in hard copy, waiting. Still yet to read a book on my new eBook reader.