A Mixed Bag

 

Terry here. This week we are invited to talk about the best books we've read lately and books we're looking forward to reading.   

I’ve had an odd reading glitch lately. I usually read crime fiction. But in the last few weeks, I’ve shied away from reading it and caught up on some non-crime fiction and even some non-fiction. 

 My book club read Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. I enjoyed it, although there were some problems with characters that didn’t quite come off well. Still, I would recommend it because it’s refreshing. Even more refreshing was the excellent black cake that one of the book club members made. It’s a fruitcake, with dried fruits…steeped in rum. I mean really steeped in rum. Luckily, I didn’t have far to get home.

Before that I read Liar’s Dictionary, by Eley Williams, which I have to admit was disappointing, although it was interesting. Maybe a bit too cerebral? It’s about Mountweazels. Don’t know what that is? Look it up in a dictionary. 

Currently I’m reading The Lost City of the Monkey God.

Not the first book I’ve read by Douglas Preston, and like the others a little too stuffed with extraneous information. (Like much non-fiction that I read, it would work just as well as a long article). But it’s interesting, about archeological exploration of ancient ruins in Honduras. 

 As for the best crime fiction I’ve read lately, it was hands down Faye Snowden’s A Killing Fire. Homicide Detective Raven Burns is trying to escape her criminal father’s voice in her head, and the fallout from his vicious deeds. It was particularly intriguing for me because I just finished writing a suspense novel in which the main character is plagued by her father’s voice. I can’t wait to read Faye’s next novel, A Killing Rain, which just received a rave review from Krystopher Zgorski.

I was lucky enough to bid on and win a collection of books by Julia Dahl. My latest read from the group is Conviction, about a journalist who takes on the task of investigating whether a man who pled guilty to crime years ago is actually innocent. She’s a dynamite writer. I’m going to dive into Invisible City next.

I usually try to read all the Edgar award-nominated hardcover, paperback, and debut nominees. Because of our move in April/May I haven’t gotten around to any of them (although I have bought a few of them). So that’s what is on my TBRN list (to-be-read-NOW). But with a to-be-read stack as formidable as mine, who knows what I’ll pounce on next. And speaking of pounce, here’s a kitten video for your watching enjoyment.