Themis-Athena's Garden of Books

The Books:

Country House Mystery: Georgette Heyer: Penhallow (Ulli Birvé audio)

Cryptozoologist: Patricia A. McKillip: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (Dina Pearlman audio)

Romantic Suspense: Susanna Kearsley: A Desperate Fortune (Katherine Kellgren audio)

Terrifying Women: Mary Roberts Rinehart: Locked Doors (Anne Hancock audio)

Terror in a Small Town: Joy Ellis: Their Lost Daughters (Richard Armitage audio)

A Grimm Tale: Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber (Emilia Fox / Richard Armitage audio)

Genre: Horror: Michael McDowell: Gilded Needles (R.C. Bray audio)

Gothic: Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (3 audio versions, narrated by Anna Massey, Emma Fielding, and Emilia Fox)

Murder Most Foul: Anthony Berkeley: The Wychford Poisoning Case (Mike Grady audio)

Doomsday: Jennifer Wright: Get Well Soon

13: The Detection Club: Verdict of 13 (anthology)

Supernatural: Neil Gaiman: Norse Mythology (audio version, narrated by the author)

Free Space: Mavis Doriel Hay: Murder Underground (Patience Tomlinson audio)

Amateur Sleuth: Fredric Brown: The Fabulous Clipjoint

Southern Gothic: Sharyn McCrumb: The Ballad of Frankie Silver (audio version, narrated by the author)

Ghost Stories: Charles Dickens: The Ghost Stories, Vol. 1 (Phil Reynolds audio)

Cozy Mystery: Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Emilia Fox audio)

New Release: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling): Lethal White (Robert Glenister audio)

Diverse Voices: Walter Mosley: White Butterfly (Michael Boatman audio)

Creepy Carnivals: Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (Adjoa Andoh audio)

Fear the Drowning Deep: Daphne du Maurier: Frenchman's Creek (John Nettles audio)

Classic Horror: Edith Wharton: Ghosts: Edith Wharton's Gothic Tales (audio version, various narrators)

Darkest London: Andrew Taylor: The American Boy (Alex Jennings audio)

Genre: Suspense: M.P. Shiel: Prince Zaleski and Cummings King Monk

Relics and Curiosities: Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Nigel Planer audio)

My Square Markers and "Virgin" Bingo Card:

"Virgin" card posted for ease of tracking and comparison.

Read but not called

Called but not read

Read and Called

Wild Card Author: Neil Gaiman

Spreadsheet:

Well, that was unexpected.  (Not.)

... and all I can think is, cool, we finally should be able to wrap things up now.

Seriously, this book has not aged well.

Not the edition I'm reading, but by far the most atmospheric cover of all the editions on BL.

I don't like either of the men -- if I'm not supposed to, job well done, Ms. Howatch.  If I am supposed to like one or all of them (or even find them intriguing) ... I guess it's a good thing we've moved on since the 1970s.  That said, as a teenager I'd probably have fallen for Daniel.

Kyle of Lochalsh. 
Got some photos of my own, too -- will have to look for them later.

And I'm pretty sure Roshven is inspired by Eilean Donan Castle ... which, after all, also figures in everything from James Bond to the Highlander movie (and which in reality isn't half as ancient as it is conveniently made to look).

BD gifts: My mom gave me a ticket for Bonn Opera's production of Händel's Xerxes -- a simply riveting, tongue in cheek production setting the story in a dictatorial fairy tale puppet theatre (yes, there apparently is such a thing) -- and my BFF raided my Ammy wishlist ... as well as adding a few things along the lines of "all things kitties."  I'm feeling very much spoiled!

... at Hamburg Zoo, with all sorts of different nesting options matching the various bee species' requirements.  Neat, isn't it?

The librarian of the Unseen University!

In addition to the books acquired upon my departure for Hamburg, that is.  Go figure, they had bookstores at Hamburg Airport and Hamburg Central Station as well ... and I had way too much time on my hands ahead of my return flight to Cologne.  * whistles innocently *

// TA decides to pack light because, after all, she's only leaving for a 2-day business trip.  Then agonizes a half hour over which one of several 100 books on physical TBR to take on the trip. //

// Leaving home, finds book in mailbox that was delivered yesterday but which for reasons unknown she didn't immediately retrieve.  Pulls book out of envelope, discards envelope, and stuffs book into travel case. //

TA gets to airport:  "Oh, look, there's the book store I knew all the time would be there!"

// Buys four more books just because. //

Hmm.  The opening pages read unexpectedly timely.  Right now we seem to be sliding into typical Anthony Berkeley mode, which isn't necessarily a good sign.  But the premise and the introduction still hold the promise of more good things to come.

Reading this for the "Justice Game" square of the (inofficial) Detection Club Bingo.

Read:

A - Margery Allingham: The Crime at Black Dudley, Mystery Mile, Look to the Lady, Police at the Funeral, Sweet Danger, Death of a Ghost, Flowers for the Judge, The Case of the Late Pig, Dancers in Mourning, The Fashion in Shrouds, Traitor's Purse, and The Tiger in the Smoke (all new); The Man With the Sack (revisited on audio);

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun (new);

Margaret Atwood: The Penelopiad (new) and The Blind Assassin (both audio);

Elizabeth von Arnim: The Solitary Summer

B - Anne Brontë: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (revisited on audio);

Phyllis Bottome: The Lifeline (new)

C - Helen Czerski: Storm in a Teacup (new);

Agatha Christie: The Moving Finger, One, Two, Buckle my Shoe, Murder Is Easy, They Do It With Mirrors, N or M?, Ordeal by Innocence, and Murder at the Vicarage (all revisited on audio), Crooked House (revisited on audio and DVD), Destination Unknown, and They Came to Baghdad (both new);

Peter Finn & Petra Couvee: The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book (new);

Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Nights at the Circus (both new)

D - Margaret Drabble: The Red Queen (new);

Daphne Du Maurier: Frenchman's Creek (new) and Rebecca (revisited on audio);

Detection Club: Verdict of 13 (new) -- used for Free Square

E - Joy Ellis: Their Lost Daughters (new)

F -

G - Elizabeth George: For the Sake of Elena, Playing for the Ashes, Well-Schooled in Murder, and Payment in Blood (all revisited on audio);

Elizabeth Gaskell: Cranford (revisited on audio) and Cousin Phillis (new)

H - Radclyffe Hall: The Well of Loneliness (new);

Mavis Doriel Hay: Death on the Cherwell and Murder Underground (both new);

Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (revisited on audio);

Kathryn Harkup: A Is for Arsenic (new);

Georgette Heyer: Penhallow (new)

I -

J - P.D. James: The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories (new), Original Sin, Death of an Expert Witness, Unnatural Causes, and The Skull Beneath the Skin (all revisited on audio)

K - Rosalie Knecht: Who Is Vera Kelly? (new);

Susanna Kearsley: A Desperate Fortune (new)

L - Valerie Plame Wilson & Sarah Lovett: Blowback (new)

M - Val McDermid: The Distant Echo and Trick of the Dark (both new);

Ngaio Marsh: Death in a White Tie, Off With His Head (aka Death of a Fool), Clutch of Constables, Death at the Dolphin (aka Killer Dolphin), Hand in Glove, and Death in a White Tie (all revisited on audio);

Francine Mathews: The Cutout (new);

Helen MacInnes: Above Suspicion (new);

Patricia A. McKillip: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (new);

Sharyn McCrumb: The Ballad of Frankie Silver (new)

N -

O - Emmuska Orczy: The Old Man in the Corner (new), The Scarlet Pimpernel (revisited on audio), and I Will Repay (new)

P - Anne Perry: A Dangerous Mourning and The Whitechapel Conspiracy (both new);

Ellis Peters: The Sanctuary Sparrow, Dead Man's Ransom, The Pilgrim of Hate, and The Confession of Brother Haluin (all revisited on audio);

Valerie Plame Wilson: Blowback and Fair Game (both new)

Q -

R - J.K. Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith): The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm, Career of Evil, and Lethal White (all new);

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (all on audio);

Stella Rimington: Secret Asset, Illegal Action, and Open Secret (all new);

Mary Roberts Rinehart: Locked Doors (new)

S - Dennis McCarthy & June Schlueter: "A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels" by George North -- A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare's Plays (new);

Dorothy L. Sayers: Unnatural Death (revisited on audio)

T - Josephine Tey: Brat Farrar and The Franchise Affair (both new);

Amy Tan: The Chinese Siamese Cat (new);

Jane Thynne: Black Roses (new)

U -

V -

W - Ethel Lina White: The Lady Vanishes (aka The Wheel Spins) and The Spiral Staircase (aka Some Must Watch) (both new);

Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver Intervenes, Latter End, Poison in the Pen, The Watersplash, and The Traveller Returns (all new);

Kate Westbrook: The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel (new);

Edith Wharton: Ghosts: Edith Wharton's Gothic Tales (new);

Jennifer Wright: Get Well Soon (new)

X -

Y -

Z - Juli Zeh: Schilf (English title: Dark Matter) and Unterleuten (both new)

Free / center square: Detection Club: Verdict of 13 (new; anthology)

On the card, I am only tracking new reads, not rereads.

Read, to date in 2018:

Books by female authors: 105

- new: 70

- rereads: 35

Books by male authors: 58

- new: 53

- rereads: 5

Books by F & M mixed teams / anthologies: 3

- new: 3

- rereads:

First five bingos (bottom row, second column from right, center column, diagonal top left to bottom right, and 4 corners + central square) -- plus two more in the making (top row and diagonal top right to bottom left).  Not that it greatly matters, but still. :D  Progress!

The Squares / Chapters:

1. A New Era Dawns: Ernest Bramah - The Tales of Max Carrados;

Emmuska Orczy - The Old Man in the Corner

2. The Birth of the Golden Age: A.A. Milne - The Red House Mystery
3. The Great Detectives: Margery Allingham - The Crime at Black Dudley, Mystery Mile, Look to the Lady, Police at the Funeral, Sweet Danger, Death of a Ghost, Flowers for the Judge, The Case of the Late Pig, Dancers in Mourning, The Fashion in Shrouds, Traitor's Purse, and The Tiger in the Smoke;

Anthony Berkeley - The Poisoned Chocolates Case

Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver Intervenes, Latter End, The Watersplash, and The Traveller Returns;

Agatha Christie - Murder at the Vicarage (reread)

4. 'Play Up! Play Up! and Play the Game!': Freeman Wills Crofts - The Hog's Back Mystery;

Dennis Wheatley and J.G. Links - Murder off Miami

5. Miraculous Murders: Anthony Wynne - Murder of a Lady;

John Dickson Carr - The Hollow Man

6. Serpents in Eden: Agatha Christie - The Moving Finger (reread);

John Bude - The Lake District Murder;

Patricia Wentworth - Poison in the Pen

7. Murder at the Manor: Mavis Doriel Hay - The Santa Klaus Murder;

Ethel Lina White - The Spiral Staircase (aka Some Must Watch);

Georgette Heyer - Penhallow

8. Capital Crimes: Mavis Doriel Hay - Murder Underground

9. Resorting to Murder
10. Making Fun of Murder: Edmund Crispin - The Moving Toyshop;

Alan Melville - Quick Curtain

11. Education, Education, Education: Mavis Doriel Hay - Death on the Cherwell
12. Playing Politics
13. Scientific Enquiries: Christopher St. John Sprigg - Death of an Airman;

Freeman Wills Crofts - Mystery in the Channel

14. The Long Arm of the Law: Henry Wade - Lonely Magdalen
15. The Justice Game
16. Multiplying Murders
17. The Psychology of Crime
18. Inverted Mysteries: Anne Meredith - Portrait of a Murderer

19. The Ironists: Anthony Rolls - Family Matters;

Anthony Berkeley - The Wychford Poisoning Case

20. Fiction from Fact: Josephine Tey - The Franchise Affair

21. Singletons
22. Across the Atlantic: Patricia Highsmith - The Talented Mr. Ripley (reread);

Q. Patrick (Richard Wilson Webb and Hugh Wheeler) - File on Fenton and Farr;

Mary Roberts Rinehart - Locked Doors

23. Cosmopolitan Crimes: Georges Simenon - Pietr le Letton (Pietr the Latvian)
24. The Way Ahead

Free Square / Eric the Skull: Martin Edwards - The Golden Age of Murder

The book that started it all:

Martin Edwards - The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books

The Detection Club Reading Lists:
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: The "100 Books" Presented
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 1-5

The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 6 & 7
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 8-10
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 11-15
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 16-20
The story of Classic Crime in 100 Books: Other Books Mentioned, Chapters 21-24

One of those Discworld books that only get better with every single reread.  Pratchett absolutely hit his stride with this ... one of my all-time favorites, by far not for the Shakespeare references alone.

Finished last night.

To the resident Christie (and Miss Marple) fans: Do you recall Christie saying anywhere that Colonel Melchett is a Scot?  Because that's the accent that Richard E. Grant gives him.  I totally wouldn't rule out that he's got a point -- he picked up on Christie's characterization of Lawrence Redding as Irish, too, and that's easy enough to miss as it is -- but if he's right about Melchett, then boy do I have to reread all of the Miss Marple mysteries that are actually set in St. Mary Mead to see what I've been missing about Melchett.

Much-needed comfort listening.  And Richard E. Grant is doing a very nice job, too.

Final square -- revisiting Rebecca with the idea of a comparison review of the 3 audio versions I own (narrated by Anna Massey, Emma Fielding, and Emilia Fox, respectively).