Here‘s an elegantly done new mystery by the author ofMy Bloody Project, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. There is a fatal car crash on the A35 near a small town in France. The dead driver is a very proper, conservative lawyer, and absolutely nothing indicates foul play. Inspector Gorski is bothered by one question: where was the victim driving home from? And that, my friends, is the hook that unveils a hot mess. Literate fun!

Marshal Guarnaccia is Sicilian working class, and feels he can‘t compete against Firenze‘s hot shot murder squad,politics, and is uncomfortable with the upper classes. If you like Maigret, you will love the marshal. He‘s self deprecating and a bit inarticulate, but he instinctively has a grasp of human nature. A famous writer is found dead in her bath, and he‘s reluctantly thrust into the world of the rich and famous. Very grumpy: strict diet!

One of my favorite writers. Freeling is British, but has an understated and cool European sensibility. Here Van der Valk, Amsterdam policeman, is roped into a private search for a missing golden boy businessman that takes him into Germany and Spain. This one won an Edgar.

Get ready for summer reading❣️Here‘s a great 🌟list to plan around: #top" rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://crimereads.com/the-most-anticipated-crime-books-of-summer/#top

The Japanese countryside is where a lot of strange superstitions, myths, and legends proliferate. This tells the story of 3 generations of the strong, strange matriarchs of the Akakuchiba family, owners of ironworks that dominate the mountain region. Their story is told in tandem with the social/cultural changes in Japan mixed with touches of magic realism. Who wouldn‘t love a mother who could be a seer, a daughter leading a motorcycle gang?

Shortlist for Arthur C. Clarke 2019 awards link: https://www.tor.com/2019/05/09/announcing-the-2019-arthur-c-clarke-award-shortli...

This is a great thing: garbage collectors save books to create library: http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/news/turkish-garbage-collectors-open-library-full...

Great discovery today: dropped by the bookstore and found the Japanese translation!

Cormac Reilly is finally given the chance to escape from cold cases, to take over a new homicide investigation. His partner Emma discovers the victim of a fatal hit and run,whose father is the head of a big pharma company which is funding Emma‘s research research. Cormac has enemies, powerful interests dictating the investigation parameters, and for a dreadful time he begins to doubt Emma. Excellent follow up to The Ruin;fast and fun.

I re-read this after many years and it still makes me feel hollow. Van Der Valk is bored. A young man is hired by a jewelry /antique boutique by chance. Something doesn‘t seem right so he goes to the police for advice and help. It‘s not a case, no overt crime,but Van Der Valk is curious as a cat, and begins to investigate on his own; all quite unofficial. It goes all wrong, and it is devastating.

My dad and I would devour anything by Freeling. He has an unique voice and the coolest understated style. Van der Valk is a detective in the French police, and he is handed a case where a financier points to adultery and murder, which his wife has, naturally,nothing to do with. Like Maigret, Van Der Valk is an astute observer and instinctively aware of human psychology. French cool.

I don‘t read too much YA, but glad that I picked this up at the library. London (and other cities) are on the move, gobbling up smaller cities and towns over devastated ground. There are other cities that are static, high in the mountains protected by a Great Wall;there are airship pirates, lethal undying cyborgs, a boy engineer and a girl who wants revenge in this fast steampunk fantasy. And I have a mad crush on the pirate/spy/assassin Anna Fang

Today is the end of 10 day Japanese national holiday week (the Heisei emperor abdicated and the Crown Prince has ascended the throne.) So nice surprise to find the watchmaker is Japanese in this wondrous mashup of historical fiction and fantasy set in Victorian London! All I will say is I need the clockwork octopus, and there is a very sweet gay romance as well. Enjoy!

I loved this as a kid! Link to information about the author: https://crimereads.com/encyclopedia-brown-and-the-case-of-the-mysterious-author/

Beyond Black is a brilliant portrayal of a damaged psychic, Allison, who has a grubby petty criminal as her spirit guide. She works the suburban circuits outside of London, in gatherings at what in the US would be strip malls along highways, hotels, and pubs. The world is permeable; the dead are restless and the living as well. She takes on an assistant/manager who hopes to make money from a tell all book and begins to tape conversations.

Gorgeous university press book cover designs...I‘d buy them just for the art; reading an added bonus! Link: https://lithub.com/these-are-the-best-university-press-book-designs-of-2018/

Darkly funny and it is designed so pages are laid out like very long footnotes. I‘ve done translation work, and have friends who do. The frustrations are very real, and at times ‘what fresh hell is this?‘ Great style and development, twist ending where the real life translator of the novel makes an appearance!

It hasn‘t stopped raining in Ireland for decades. Forget the dystopian hopelessness and brutish violence; this is a heartbreaking love story at its core. Beautifully written.

Perfectly done police procedural that encompasses all the detailed meetings and daily slog to find the culprits. Hits all the social problem checklists (still relevant now) and happily shows strong and loving family for Huss. Didn‘t connect somehow: felt it would make a great tv series as actors would bring that plus alpha emotional weight and je ne sais quoi to it. I‘m sure other readers will like it. And great cover photo!

It‘s coming to TV、 possibly up to 8 episodes！Link: https://deadline.com/2019/04/simon-pegg-nick-frost-rivers-of-london-1202602550/

Women‘s Prize for Fiction short list link！ https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/reading-room/news/revealing-the-2019-wom...

Conviction continues the story begun in Garnethill. Great interview with the author: https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/27/denise-mina-no-such-thing-apolitic...

Yes, sometimes I‘m seduced by cover designs, for vinyl albums and books alike; one way to discover what you would never find otherwise. Had high hopes for this one as it followed Babylon Berlin which was made into a acclaimed series. Louche detective kicked out of Berlin and into Cologne works as a PI and treats his police duties as a side job. Movie star killed by falling light, silent vs talkie studios wars, rising Nazi party, blackmail, and

Edgar Award nominees and winners! Link: https://crimereads.com/announcing-the-2019-edgar-award-winners/

Read Bluebird, Bluebird and became a fan immediately. This is her first book, and it‘s equally impressive. Ex-radical activist turned community lawyer is just trying to make a living, and is sucked onto a whirlpool of political and corporate corruption during Houston‘s oil boom. He and his pregnant wife are witnesses to a murder, and he is reluctantly drawn into an union strike. Evocative of the city and the times; racism and betrayal the same.

Insidiously slow creeping horror in isolated rural community; you know something horrible is coming but you just don‘t know in what brutal form. Made worse by revealing by degrees the unreliability of the narrator (wtf!) The isolation and resulting superstitions and customs true all over the world I think. Beautifully written, and reinforces why my boots will not leave concrete. Note: the book description on Litsy is incorrect.

Prince memoir coming, Link: https://www.spin.com/2019/04/prince-memoir-the-beautiful-ones-to-be-released-thi...

A sort of backward discovery: found a feel good indie movie on Netflix starring Alfre Woodard (l‘m a fan) titled Juanita. saw in the credits that it was based on the tagged book so will have to read it now! Juanita leaves Columbus, Ohio on a journey to find herself and it‘s a sweet and hopeful story. Just the thing to put a smile on your face.

Tomorrow is early start so will be more on Litsy in a day or so. Here we go, link title very clear on what is listed! Tagged book on the list: https://lithub.com/ahead-of-their-time-a-reading-list-of-nonconformist-women/

This is a great link for bilingual books: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/17/top-10-bilingual-books?CMP=Share_i...

RIP Gene Wolfe
https://locusmag.com/2019/04/gene-wolfe-1931-2019/
Loved his tales, especially about the torturer expelled for showing mercy (tagged).

Short list for the Man Booker prize!: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/09/man-booker-international-shortlist...

Devoured Scandi-noir in one sitting! A young girl is found hanging with a note that says “I‘m traveling alone.” All stops pulled out as police detective Munch leads his team. He persuades Mia, his former partner who is suicidal to re-join just for this case. Mia goes on instinct and her unique impressions of the clues. Riveting and intelligent, good backstories, recommend without reservations. Mia is like a grown up/maturer Lisbeth Salander!

Picked up at the library due to the hype; almost panned but gave this a so-so based on the premise/concept which is brilliant. Unfortunately, sort of fell apart in execution. I expected more bad-assery / full on punk dystopian rebellion. And the self sacrificing husband, please! Needs more backstory to make sense than being wimpy woke dude and Lorenzo, I‘m half Italian but he‘s like a fantasy lover. Sorry, wanted a bit more queerness!

I don‘t read self help books, but gave this a try because of the title and the breezy style when I leafed the pages at the library. Don‘t try to be positive all the time, accept failure but move on past it, focus on what is important and do-able, etc. Skimmed through but not for me. Basically if I‘m down in the dumps I let myself wallow for a day,say ‘Showtime‘ and go. Plus music! But that‘s just me; straightforward style may help/inspire others.

Fun for kids and for adults too！ Link to video https://youtu.be/dT9d-kMqq8k

This is such an excellent introduction to, history, and review of Japanese rock music. If you want information on J-pop, this is not for you. Cope writes about innovators who may not be household names but who deeply influenced other musicians and created their own brand of rock. Some I saw in real time. Photo is of Yuya Uchida(RIP) whose Flower Travellin‘Band played at my prom. Rock‘n‘roll!

DaVinci recommends: Here‘s a link to some poems about cats,enjoy! https://lithub.com/15-great-cat-poems-not-written-by-cats/

Gilded youth in boarding school angst as Dublin Murder Squad‘s Antoinette Conway and Stephen Moran partner up for one day to follow up on a clue in the death of a golden schoolboy one year ago. Conway gives no quarter, Moran is all about using this chance to move onto the squad. Heady, secret,and dangerous teenage world seems impossible to parse. Don‘t think I would have survived high school now. Now for French‘s next one🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Knitting！Pushing a car into the bay！Storyless stories, writers block, meaning of the universe！The black dog...and how relationships are made stronger or broken…metaphysics and so many ideas tumbling one after another. Wasn‘t sure if I liked it、 but couldn‘t help coming back to it. I need to read all her other books. Wow, guess I‘m a fan.

Total black comedy, Belfast style. Nameless crime book store (No Alibis)owner-Mystery Man-cranky,hypochondriac, allergic to everything, pessimistic, misanthropic Starbucks addict, solves crimes on the side. A simple case of finding vandals morphs into a twisty mess involving the Chief Constable, MI5, dope dealers, and a stuffed dead Jack Russell. Lots of allusions to crime writers, books, and genres which is fun. Mystery Man keeps

I‘ve come late to Ali Smith, but will make up for it. Brilliant story of 32 year old Elisabeth and 101 year old Daniel, and their friendship, which began when she was a child. Arty-art, the importance thereof; mortality, despair, humanity, fearlessness in the face of political and bureaucratic falseness, love, and change so elegantly put together in a non-linear way. It‘s lovely, offering a glimpse of hope in a world gone crazy the past few years.

The Chinese immigrant struggle and experience from the point of view of adolescent daughters caught between two cultures、 languages、the American dream、school、and family. My experience is not the same、 but yes、 I know about the monster guilt trips, and wanting to escape and be selfish. Reading this makes me sad and regretful I didn‘t talk with my mother more. Uncomfortable a bit, stories made me think and feel, and that is what good writing does.

In an alternate world-one where it seems as if Jules Verne-ish forecasts of what several centuries in the future would be like has come true-clones of authors are available as resources and checking out in libraries. Smithe was a mystery noir writer, and he‘s checked out to solve a secret and a death. He‘s a cross between Poirot and Spock and surprisingly crafty. Per Joe Haldeman You‘ll never look at a library book in quite the same way again.

I‘m not a romance genre reader, haven‘t ever been. But now this article makes me want to explore: more diversity than I ever thought! Link: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/04/fifty-shades-of-white-romance-nove...

RIP Vonda McIntyre. Safe journey on the star road
http://file770.com/vonda-n-mcintyre-1948-2019/

I have to confess: the news every day is affecting what I read. Started this, and just could not connect.Dystopian future narrative too depressing right now for me; feels like it‘s already upon us. Extremely well written and brings up important questions about what makes us human but will need to come back to read again to do it justice. Will give proper review when I can. Besides, giant flying bear and sentient something deserves respectful read!

Brand new kind of 🧛‍♂️ vampire, and 1920‘s storyline set in LA by the creator, Scott Snyder, and origin backstory set in 1880‘s by Stephen King all intertwined in big omnibus volume. Bloody fun, great storytelling and fantastic art!

My first comic in years! Captain Marvel, 1-6, so much fun. What an inspiration to girls everywhere; left internet trolls in the dust😎at the box office. Feeling like a kid sgsin😄

There‘s comfort food...and comfort books. Decided not to check the newsfeed and read this instead. Sitting to relax with old friends (people mentioned in conversations are characters you love in other Parker novels, for one). There‘s trouble in Paradise, but you know Jesse Stone will take care of it. And Spenser makes a cameo appearance! Aah, my version of cozy.