Themis-Athena's Garden of Books

 

... or Passover, or Spring Festival, or whatever else you are celebrating these days.

 

Easter walks are very much a German tradition (Goethe even immemorialized them in his Faust), and it turns out not even the Corona pandemic can do away with this.  Unlike last weekend, people were out only (or almost only) in family groups, and everybody was enjoying today's brilliant sunshine.

 

In the spirit of Sherlock Holmes's axiom that we have much to hope for from flowers because they embody the essence of goodness, here are a few impressions of what I saw on my way.

 

Villa Hammerschmidt (residence of the President of the Republic when Bonn was the West German capital)

These final two are views of our garden and that of our neighbors

... and lastly, a few more pictures of the Easter bouquet I gave my mom:

 

 

I love this book.  It's Marsh at her best; linguistically, in terms of setting and characters ...and it has a lot of things to say about people, society, and social conventions; not to mention that given the time of its publication, it's a remarkably frank look at some ugly truths which at that particular time most people would rather not have faced up to.

 

Oh, and it features cats, of course -- and they (well, one of them) even plays a pivotal part.

I revisited this not so long ago, but this is one of the books from this series that I can't reread often enough.  And I simply love the Philip Franks audio -- he absolutely nails these characters (and the "et in Arcadia ego" atmosphere).

Desperate times call for desperate measures ... I'd never have believed I'd ever let a monstrosity like this cross my front door, but with supermarket and drugstore shelves persistently empty in my area (despite rumors that elsewhere in this country, the hoarders have had their fill and stocks are being replenished), the other day when placing an order for office supplies I finally caved, after all, and included this.  Believe it or not, this was the smallest package size they were offering ...

 

 

Following up on my First in Series post and, again inspired by Moonlight Reader, this post collects all of my currently (as of April 2020) ongoing series; i.e. all series that I have started and neither fully completed nor decided to discontinue.  Like my First in Series post, this is primarily for my own reference, so in order not to have too many sub-series sections I'm combining golden age and noir mysteries into classic crime fiction, ditto both major branches of speculative fiction (sci-fi and fantasy), and my major areas of nonfiction interest (history and biographies / memoirs). -- Wherever I didn't start reading a given series in order, I'm listing book 1 (not crossed out) in addition to the (crossed out) completed books to mark this fact.  By the same token, since I didn't start all of the series with book 1, it makes more sense to me to actually record the books I'v already read rather than the one following next after my respective last read.  Completed (or abandoned) series are moved to a separate post.

 

 

CLASSIC MYSTERIES / CRIME FICTION (GOLDEN AGE & NOIR)

Margery Allingham: Albert Campion
- read all books through No. 15 (The Beckoning Lady), plus assorted short stories

 

Eric Ambler: Charles Latimer
1. The Mask of Dimitrios

 

George Bellairs: Inspector Littlejohn
1. Littlejohn on Leave
3. Death of a Busybody

 

E.C. Bentley: Philip Trent
1. Trent's Last Case

 

Anthony Berkeley: Roger Sheringham
1. The Layton Court Mystery
2. The Wychford Poisoning Case
4. The Silk Stocking Murders
5. The Poisoned Chocolates Case

 

Anthony Berkeley: Ambrose Chitterwick
1. The Piccadilly Murder
2. Trial and Error

 

Nicholas Blake: Nigel Strangeways
1. A Question of Proof
2. Thou Shell of Death
7. The Case of the Abominable Snowman

 

Ernest Bramah: Max Carrados
1. The Tales of Max Carrados

 

Christianna Brand: Inspector Cockrill
1. Heads You Lose
2. Green for Danger
3. Suddenly at His Residence
5. Fog of Doubt
6. Tour de Force

 

Christianna Brand: Inspector Charlesworth
1. Death in High Heels

 

Phyllis Bottome: Mark Chalmers
1. The Lifeline

 

Fredric Brown: Ed and Am Hunter
1. The Fabulous Clipjoint
2. The Dead Ringer

 

John Buchan: Richard Hannay
1. The 39 Steps

 

John Bude: Superintendent William Meredith
1. The Lake District Murder

 

John Dickson Carr: Dr. Gideon Fell
1. Hag's Nook
5. Death-Watch
6. The Hollow Man
9. To Wake the Dead
15. Till Death Do Us Part

 

Raymond Chandler: Philip Marlowe
1. The Big Sleep
2. Farewell, My Lovely
3. The High Window
6. The Long Goodbye

 

Edmund Crispin: Gervase Fen
1. The Case of the Gilded Fly
3. The Moving Toyshop
10. The Glimpses of the Moon

 

Freeman Wills Crofts: Inspector French
1. Inspector French's Greatest Case
7. Mystery in the Channel
10. The Hog's Back Mystery

 

Clemence Dane & Helen Simpson: Sir John Saumarez
1. Enter Sir John

 

Francis Duncan: Mordecai Tremaine
1. They'll Never Find Out
2. Murder for Christmas

 

R. Austin Freeman: Dr. Thorndyke
1. The Red Thumb Mark
3. The Eye of Osiris

 

Michael Gilbert: Henry Bohun
1. Smallbone Deceased

 

Michael Gilbert: Inspector Hazelrigg
1. Close Quarters
4. Smallbone Deceased

 

Anna Katharine Green: Violet Strange
1. The Golden Slipper

 

Dashiell Hammett: Continental Op
1. Red Harvest
2. The Dain Curse

 

Cyril Hare: Francis Pettigrew
1. Tragedy at Law

 

Cyril Hare: Inspector Mallett
1. Tenant for Death
4. Tragedy at Law

 

Patricia Highsmith: Tom Ripley
1. The Talented Mr. Ripley

 

E.W. Hornung: Raffles
1. Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

 

Mary Kelly: Inspector Brett Nightingale
1. A Cold Coming
3. The Christmas Egg

 

C.H.B. Kitchin: Malcolm Warren
1. Death of My Aunt
2. Crime at Christmas

 

Ronald Knox: Miles Bredon
1. The Three Taps
3. The Body in the Silo

 

Gaston Leroux: Joseph Rouletabille
1. Le mystère de la chambre jaune

 

E.C.R. Lorac: Robert MacDonald
1. The Murder on the Burrows
13. Bats in the Belfry
26. Murder by Matchlight

 

A.E.W. Mason: Inspector Hanaud
1. At the Villa Rose

 

Gladys Mitchell: Mrs. Bradley
1. Speedy Death
2. The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop
4. The Saltmarsh Murders
5. Death at the Opera
7. Death Comes at Christmas (aka Dead Men's Morris)
23. Murder in the Snow (aka The Groaning Spinney)

 

Q. Patrick: Crime Files
1. File on Fenton and Farr

 

Clayton Rawson: The Great Merlini
1. Death From a Top Hat

 

Mary Roberts Rinehart: Nurse Hilda Adams
1. Miss Pinkerton
2. Locked Doors

 

Georges Simenon: Maigret
1. Pietr le Letton
6. Le chien jaune
11. La Guinguette à deux sous
30. La première enquête de Maigret
38. Maigret et la Grande Perche
44. Maigret à l'école
52. Les Scrupules de Maigret
68 Maigret hésite

 

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe
1. Fer-De-Lance
5. Too Many Cooks
7. Over My Dead Body
11. The Silent Speaker
13. And Be a Villain
14. Trouble in Triplicate
16. Three Doors to Death
20. Triple Jeopardy
21. Prisoner's Base
22. The Golden Spiders
26. Three Witnesses
28. Three for the Chair
30. And Four to Go
31. Champagne for Death
33. Three at Wolfe's Door
34. Too Many Clients
36. Homicide Trinity
38. The Mother Hunt
39. Trio for Blunt Instruments
41. The Doorbell Rang
42. Death of a Doxy

 

Josephine Tey: Inspector Alan Grant
- Completed.

 

J.V. Turner: Amos Petrie
1. Death Must Have Laughed
7. Below the Clock

 

S.S. Van Dine: Philo Vance
1. The Benson Murder Case
6. The Kennel Murder Case

 

Henry Wade: Inspector Poole
1. The Missing Partners
9. Lonely Magdalen

 

Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver
- see list of read books HERE.

 

Anthony Wynne: Dr. Eustace Hailey
1. The Sign of Evil
12. Murder of a Lady

 

 

SILVER AGE & CONTEMPORARY CRIME & MYSTERY

Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon
1. Track of the Cat

 

Stephen Booth: Cooper & Fry
1. Black Dog

 

Simon Brett: Charles Paris
1. Cast, in Order of Disappearance
4. An Amateur Corpse

 

Ken Bruen: Jack Taylor
1. The Guards

 

Andrea Camilleri: Inspector Montalbano
1. The Shape of Water

 

Tom Clancy: Jack Ryan
1. Patriot Games
3. The Hunt for Red October
5. Clear and Present Danger

 

Ann Cleeves: Shetland
1. Raven Black
2. White Nights

 

Michael Connelly: Harry Bosch
- read all books through No. 23 (Dark Sacred Night)

 

Michael Connelly: Renée Ballard
1. The Late Show
2. Dark Sacred Night

 

Michael Connelly: Mickey Haller
- read all books through No. 6 (The Goods of Guilt)

 

Michael Connelly: Jack McEvoy
1. Jack McEvoy
2. The Scarecrow

 

Robin Cook: Dr. Marissa Blumenthal
1. Outbreak

 

Patricia Cornwell: Kay Scarpetta
1. Postmortem
9. Point of Origin

 

John Connolly: Charlie Parker
1. Every Dead Thing

 

Len Deighton: Bernard Samson
1. Berlin Game

 

James D. Doss: Charlie Moon
1. The Shaman Sings
3. The Shaman's Bones
5. The Night Visitor
6. Grandmother Spider
7. White Shell Woman

 

Åke Edwardson: Erik Winter
1. Death Angels
3. Frozen Tracks

 

Joy Ellis: D.I. Rowan Jackman / D.S. Marie Evans
- read all books through No. 6 (The Patient Man)

 

Joy Ellis: Matt Ballard
1. Beware the Past
2. Five Bloody Hearts

 

Chris Ewan: Good Thief's Guides
1. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam
2. The Good Thief's Guide to Paris

 

Ian Fleming: James Bond
1. Casino Royale
6. Dr. No
7. Goldfinger
13. The Man With the Golden Gun
15.1 Quantum of Solace

 

Karin Fossum: Inspector Sejer
1. Eva's Eye
3. He Who Fears the Wolf

 

Tana French: Dublin Murder Squad
1. In the Woods
3. Faithful Place

 

Alan Furst: Night Soldiers
1. Night Soldiers

 

Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling): Cormoran Strike
- read all books through No. 4 (Lethal White)

 

Elizabeth George: Inspector Lynley
- read all books through No. 16 (This Body of Death), except books 12 (A Place of Hiding) and 14 (What Came Before He Shot Her). Abandoned thereafter.

 

Bartholomew Gill: Peter McGarr
1. The Death of an Irish Politician (aka Mc Garr And The Politician's Wife)
15. The Death of an Irish Sinner

 

Peter Grainger: D.S. Smith
1. An Accidental Death

 

Martha Grimes: Richard Jury
- read all books through No. 21 (Dust). Abandoned thereafter.

 

Martha Grimes: Emma Graham
1. Hotel Paradise

 

John Grisham: Jake Brigance
1. A Time to Kill

 

Mary Higgins Clark: Alvirah and Willy
1. Weep No More, My Lady
3. All Through the Night

 

Arnaldur Indriðason: Reykjavik Murder Mysteries
1. Sons of Dust
5. Voices

 

Michael Innes: Sir John Appleby
1. Death at the President's Lodging

 

J.A. Jance: Joanna Brady
1. Desert Heat

 

John Le Carré: George Smiley
1. Call for the Dead
2. A Murder of Quality
3. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
4. The Looking Glass War
5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
7. Smiley's People

 

Donna Leon: Commissario Guido Brunetti
1. Death at La Fenice

 

Elmore Leonard: Chili Palmer
1. Get Shorty

 

Peter Lovesey: Peter Diamond
1. The Last Detective

 

Henning Mankell: Wallander
- read all books through No. 8 (Firewall)

 

Henning Mankell: Linda Wallander
1. Before the Frost

 

Peter May: Lewis Trilogy
1. The Blackhouse
2. The Lewis Man
3.5 Coffin Road

 

Sharyn McCrumb: Ballad Novels
1. If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O
3. She Walks These Hills
5. The Ballad of Frankie Silver
12. The Unquiet Grave

 

Val McDermid: Karen Pirie
- read all books through No. 5 (Broken Ground)

 

Val McDermid: Carol Jordan / Tony Hill
1. The Mermaids Singing
2. The Wire in the Blood
5. Beneath the Bleeding
9. Splinter the Silence

 

Val McDermid: Kate Brannigan
1. Dead Beat

 

John Mortimer: Rumpole
- read all books except for No. 14 (Rumpole and the Reign of Terror)

 

Patricia Moyes: Inspector Henry Tibbett
1. Dead Men Don't Ski

 

Jo Nesbø: Harry Hole
1. The Bat
7. The Snowman

 

Gil North: Sergeant Cluff
1. Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm

 

Sara Paretsky: V.I. Warshawski
1. Indemnity Only
4. Bitter Medicine
7. Guardian Angel
8. Tunnel Vision
10. Total Recall

 

Robert B. Parker: Spenser
1. The Godwulf Manuscript
21. Walking Shadow
22. Thin Air
24 Small Vices
27. Hugger Mugger

 

Iain Pears: Jonathan Argyll
1. The Raphael Affair
5. Giotto's Hand

 

George Pelecanos: Derek Strange / Terry Quinn
- read all books through No. 4 (Hard Revolution)

 

George Pelecanos: D.C. Quartet
1. The Big Blowdown
4. Shame the Devil

 

Akif Pirinçci: Felidae
1. Felidae

 

Ian Rankin: Inspector Rebus
- read all books through No. 22 (In a House of Lies)

 

Ian Rankin: Malcolm Fox
1. The Complaints
2. The Impossible Dead

 

Dolores Redondo: Trilogía del Baztán
1. El guardián invisible

 

Kathy Reichs: Temperance Brennan
1. Déjà Dead
5. Grave Secrets

 

Ruth Rendell: Inspector Wexford
1. From Doon With Death
10. A Sleeping Life
15. Kissing the Gunner's Daughter
16. Simisola
19. The Babes in the Wood
21. Not in the Flesh
22. The Monster in the Box
24. No Man's Nightingale

 

Stella Rimington: Liz Carlyle
- read all books through No. 3 (Illegal Action)

 

Peter Robinson: Inspector Alan Banks
1. Gallows View
10. In a Dry Season
11. Cold Is the Grave
14. Playing With Fire
17. Friend of the Devil

 

Lisa Scottoline: Rosato & Associates
1. Think Twice
5. Moment of Truth

 

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: The Children's House
1. The Legacy

 

Richard Stark: Parker
1. The Hunter

 

Peter Temple: Jack Irish
1. Bad Debts

 

Trevanian: Jonathan Hemlock
1. The Eiger Sanction

 

Trevanian & Don Winslow: Shibumi / Satori
1. Trevanian: Shibumi

 

Scott Turow: Kindle County
1. Presumed Innocent

 

Helene Tursten: Inspector Irene Huss
1. Detective Inspector Huss
2. Night Rounds
Series currently in abeyance.

 

Donald E. Westlake: John Dortmunder
1. The Hot Rock

 

Ulrich Wickert: Jacques Ricou
1. Der Richter aus Paris

 

R.D. Wingfield: D.I. Jack Frost
1. Frost at Christmas
6. A Killing Frost

 

 

HISTORICAL FICTION (INCL. HISTORICAL MYSTERIES)

David Ashton: McLevy (BBC Radio Drama)
1. Series 1 & 2

 

James Clavell: Asia Saga

1. Shōgun
5. Noble House

 

Barbara Cleverly: Joe Sandilands
1. The Last Kashmiri Rose
2. Ragtime in Simla

 

Max Allan Collins: Road to Perdition
1. Road to Perdition

 

David Downing: John Russell
1. Zoo Station

 

Alexandre Dumas: The Last Valois
1. La Reine Margot

 

Dorothy Dunnett: Lymond Chronicles
1. The Game of Kings

 

James Ellroy: L.A. Quartet
1. The Black Dahlia
3. L.A. Confidential

 

J.G. Farrell: Empire Trilogy
1. Troubles

 

Ken Follett: Kingsbridge
1. The Pillars of the Earth
2. World Without End

 

Robert Harris: Cicero
1. Imperium

 

Antonia Hodgson: Tom Hawkins
1. The Devil in the Marshalsea

 

M.M. Kaye: Death in ...
1. Death in Kashmir

 

Dennis Lehane: Coughlin
1. The Given Day

 

David Liss: Benjamin Weaver
1. A Conspiracy of Paper

 

Sharon Maas: Winnie Cox
0.5. The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q.
1. The Secret Life of Winnie Cox

 

Hilary Mantel: Thomas Cromwell
1. Wolf Hall
2. Bring Up the Bodies

 

Shirley McKay: Hew Cullen
1. Hue & Cry

 

The Medieval Murderers
- read all books through No. 6 (The Sacred Stone) plus book 8 (The First Murder)

 

          * * * * *

Series Associated with The Medieval Murderers:
Simon Beaufort: Geoffrey Mappestone
1. Murder in the Holy City

Susanna Gregory: Matthew Bartholomew
1. A Plague on Both Your Houses
2. An Unholy Alliance

 

Susanna Gregory: Thomas Chaloner
1. A Conspiracy of Violence

 

Philip Gooden: Nick Revill
1. Sleep of Death

 

Bernard Knight: Crowner John
1. Crowner's Crusade

Michael Jecks: Knights Templar
1. The Last Templar
6. The Leper's Return
12. The Sticklepath Strangler
17. The Tolls of Death

 

Ian Morson: William Falconer
1. Falconer's Crusade
6. Falconer and the Ritual of Death

          * * * * *

 

Walter Mosley: Easy Rawlins
- read all books through No. 3 (White Butterfly)

 

Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
2. I Will Repay
3. The Elusive Pimpernel
4. El Dorado
6. The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
11. Mam'zelle Guillotine

 

Robin Paige: Victorian Mysteries
1. Death at Bishop's Keep
7. Death at Epsom Downs

 

Jean-François Parot: Nicolas Le Floch
1. L'énigme des Blancs-Manteaux

 

Sharon Kay Penman: Plantagenets
1. When Christ and His Saints Slept

 

Sharon Kay Penman: Justin de Quincy
1. The Queen's Man

 

Anne Perry: Charlotte and Thomas Pitt
1. The Cater Street Hangman
21. The Whitechapel Conspiracy

 

Anne Perry: William Monk
1. The Face of a Stranger
2. A Dangerous Mourning
3. Defend and Betray

 

Anne Perry: Christmas Novellas
- read all books through No. 10 (A Christmas Garland)

 

Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody
1. Crocodile on the Sandbank

 

Jean Plaidy: Plantagenet Saga
1. The Plantagenet Prelude
7. Hammer of the Scots

 

Jean Plaidy: Tudor Saga
1.To Hold the Crown
5. Murder Most Royal

 

Candace Robb: Owen Archer
1. The Apothecary Rose
6. A Gift of Sanctuary

 

Priscilla Royal: Eleanor, Prioress of Tyndal
1. Wine of Violence

 

Jed Rubenfeld: Sigmund Freud
1. The Interpretation of Murder

 

C.J. Sansom: Matthew Shardlake
- read all books through No. 7 (Tombland)

 

Neal Stephenson: Baroque Cycle
1. Quicksilver

 

Jane Thynne: Clara Vine
1. Black Roses

 

Rose Tremain: Merivel
1. Restoration

 

Various Authors: Canongate Myths
1. Karen Armstrong: A Short History of Myth
2. Margaret Atwood: The Penelopiad

 

Kate Westbrook: The Moneypenny Diaries
1. Guardian Angel

 

Samantha Wilcoxson: Plantagenet Embers
- read all books through No. 3 (Queen of Martyrs)

 

 

COZY MYSTERIES

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow
1. Murder with Peacocks
10. Six Geese A-Slaying
16. Duck the Halls
18. The Nightingale Before Christmas
19. Lord of the Wings
24: Lark! The Herald Angels Sing
26. Owl Be Home for Christmas

 

Lesley Cookman: Libby Sarjeant
1. Murder in Steeple Martin

 

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen
1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
9.5. Candy Cane Murder

 

 

FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION / SUPERNATURAL

Douglas Adams: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

Jim Butcher: The Cinder Spires
1. The Aeronaut's Windlass

 

Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park
1. Jurassic Park

 

Ian Doescher: William Shakespeare's Star Wars
1. The Phantom Menace
4. Verily, a New Hope

 

Scott Lynch: Gentleman Bastard
1. The Lies of Locke Lamora

 

Christopher Paolini: Inheritance Cycle
- read all books through No. 3 (Brisingr)

 

Terry Pratchett: Discworld
- read all books through No. 8 (Guards! Guards!), plus:
12. Witches Abroad
14. Lords and Ladies
15. Men at Arms
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
23. Carpe Jugulum
31. Monstrous Regiment

 

Terry Pratchett: The Science of Discworld
1. The Science of Discworld

 

Mary Stewart: Merlin Trilogy
1. The Crystal Cave
2. The Hollow Hills

 

CLASSICS & LITFIC
Pearl S. Buck: House of Earth
1. The Good Earth
3. A House Divided

 

James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales
1. The Deerslayer
2. The Last of the Mohicans

 

E.M. Delafield: Diary of a Provincial Lady
1. The Diary of a Provincial Lady

 

Charles Dickens: The Christmas Books
1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Chimes

 

Elizabeth Gaskell: Cranford Chronicles
1. Cranford
3. My Lady Ludlow

 

Günter Grass: Danzig-Trilogie
1. Die Blechtrommel

 

Giovanni Guareschi: Don Camillo
1. The Little World of Don Camillo

 

Joanne Harris: Chocolat
1. Chocolat

 

James Herriot: All Creatures Great and Small
1. All Creatures Great and Small
X Cat Stories

 

Olivia Manning: The Fortunes of War
Balkan Trilogy
1. The Great Fortune

 

Penguin Great Loves
1. Vergil: Doomed Love
2. Pierre Abélard and Héloïse d'Argenteuil: Forbidden Fruit: From the Letters
9. Leo Tolstoy: The Kreutzer Sonata
18. Anaïs Nin: Eros Unbound

 

Walter Scott: Waverley Novels
1. Waverley
4. Rob Roy
5. Ivanhoe
7. Kenilworth

 

Walter Scott: Tales of My Landlord
1. The Black Dwarf & Old Mortality
2. The Heart of Mid-Lothian
3.1 The Bride of Lammermoor

 

Joseph Sheridan le Fanu: In a Glass Darkly
1. Carmilla

 

Robert Louis Stevenson: David Balfour
1. Kidnapped

 

Angela Thirkell: Barsetshire
1. High Rising

 

Anthony Trollope: Barchester Chronicles
1. The Warden
2. Barchester Towers

 

Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer
1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

John Updike: Eastwick
1. The Witches of Eastwick

 

Various Authors: Hogarth Shakespeare
1. Jeanette Winterson: The Gap of Time
4. Margaret Atwood: Hag-Seed

 

Jules Verne: Voyages Extraordinaires
1. Cinq semaines en ballon
6. Vingt mille lieux sous les mers
14. Michel Strogoff

 

P.G. Wodehouse: Jeeves
1. My Man Jeeves
5. Thank you, Jeeves
7. The Code of the Woosters
12. Jeeves in the Offing

 

P.G. Wodehouse: Ukridge
1. Ukridge

 

Émile Zola: Les Rougon-Macquart
1. La Fortune des Rougon
9. Nana

 

 

HISTORY & (AUTO)BIOGRAPHY

Patrick Leigh Fermor: On Foot to Constantinople
1. A Time of Gifts
2. Between the Woods and the Water

 

Nick Hornby: Stuff I've Been Reading
1. The Polysyllabic Spree

 

Marcel Pagnol: Souvenirs d'enfance
1. La gloire de mon père

 

Liza Picard: Life of London
1. Elizabeth's London

 

Dorothy L. Sayers: The Letters
1. 1899-1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist

 

Jennifer Worth: Midwife Trilogy
1. Call the Midwife

 

 

Moonlight Reader created a post like this last week and I decided it might help me keeping track of my series reading plans as well, so here we are. These are all the still-to-be-started series that I've added to my TBR in the past two decades (ever since I started keeping track of my reading at all).  Obviously, not all of them have the same priority: some are recent additions that I can't wait to get to, some are of the "I'll get to it whenever I'll get to it" sort, some I'm now almost certain will turn out not to be for me (but I don't want to take them off the list before I haven't at least taken a look at book 1), and with some, I'm seriously late for the party (and can hardly believe it's ever come to this in the first place).  Also, in some cases I'm actually more interested in a book (or books) further along in the series, but in the interest of reading the series in order, I'm still listing book no. 1 here.

 

Finally, since this is primarily for my own reference and I didn't want to have too many sub-list fragments, I've lumped together a few categories that I would otherwise keep separate, such as Classics and LitFic, History and Biographies / Memoirs, Golden Age mysteries and noir fiction, etc.

 

(For my ongoing series reads, see HERE.; for completed (resp. abandoned) series and authors, see HERE.)

 

 

CLASSIC MYSTERIES / CRIME FICTION (GOLDEN AGE & NOIR)

Francis Beeding: Inspector Martin - The Norwich Victims
Caryl Brahms & S.J. Simon: Inspector Quill - A Bullet in the Ballet
Christianna Brand: Inspector Charlesworth - Death in High Heels
Leo Bruce: Sergeant Beef - Case for Three Detectives
Leo Bruce: Carolus Deene - At Death's Door
John Bude: Inspector Bigswell - The Cornish Coast Murder
Miles Burton: Inspector Arnold - Death in the Tunnel
Elizabeth Daly: Henry Gamadge - Unexpected Night
Clemence Dane & Helen Simpson: Sir John Saumarez - Enter Sir John
John Dickson Carr: Henri Bencolin - It Walks by Night
Carter Dickson: Sir Henry Merrivale - The Plague Court Murders
Detection Club: Anatomy of Murder - Anatomy of Murder
David Dodge: Whit Whitney - Death and Taxes
Francis Durbridge: Paul Temple - Send for Paul Temple
Mignon G. Eberhart: Sarah Keate - The Patient in Room 18
Timothy Fuller: Jupiter Jones - Harvard Has a Homicide
Friedrich Glauser: Wachtmeister Studer - Wachtmeister Studer
Anna Katharine Green: Ebenezer Gryce - The Leavenworh Case
Balduin Groller: Detektiv Dagoberts Taten und Abenteuer - Volume 1
Chester Himes: Harlem Cycle - A Rage in Harlem
Elspeth Huxley: Inspector Vachell - Murder at Government House
Maurice Leblanc: Arsène Lupin - Arsène Lupin: Gentleman cambrioleur
Philip MacDonald: Colonel Gethryn - The Rasp
Ross Macdonald: Lew Archer - The Moving Target
A.E.W. Mason: Inspector Hanaud - At the Villa Rose
Helen McCloy: Dr. Basil Willing - Dance of Death
Margaret Millar: Tom Aragon - Ask for Me Tomorrow
E. Phillips Oppenheim: John T. Laxworthy - Mr. Laxworthy's Adventures
E.R. Punshon: Bobby Owen - Information Received
Ellery Queen: Ellery Queen - The Roman Hat Mystery
Patrick Quentin: Peter Duluth - Puzzle for Fools
John Rowland: Inspector Shelley - Bloodshed in Bayswater
Shelley Smith: Jacob Chaos - Background for Murder
Pierre Souvestre & Marcel Allain - Famtômas - Tome 1
Rex Stout: Tecumseh Fox - Double for Death
Phoebe Atwood Taylor (Alice Tilton): Leonidas Witherall - Beginning With a Bash
Edgar Wallace: Elk of the Yard - The Fellowship of the Frog
Edgar Wallace: The Four Just Men - The Four Just Men
Edgar Wallace: Mr. J.G. Reeder - Room 13
Colin Watson: Flaxborough Chronicles - Coffin Scarcely Used
Lassiter Wren & Randle McKay: The Baffle Book(s) - The Baffle Book

 

For my Golden Age mystery priority plans, see HERE.

 

 

SILVER AGE & CONTEMPORARY CRIME & MYSTERY

Pieter Aspe: Pieter Van In - The Square of Revenge
Ace Atkins: Nick Travers - Crossroad Blues
David Baldacci: Camel Club - The Camel Club
Robert Barnard: Perry Trethowan - Death By Sheer Torture
Linda Barnes: Carlotta Carlyle - A Trouble of Fools
Carol Lea Benjamin: Rachel Alexander and Dash - This Dog for Hire
Mark Billingham: Tom Thorne - Sleepyhead
Lawrence Block: Matthew Scudder - The Sins of the Fathers
Anthony Boucher: Fergus O'Breen - The Case of the Crumpled Knave
Anthony Boucher: Sister Ursula - Nine Times Nine
Kylie Brant: Mindhunters - Waking Nightmare
C.J. Box: Joe Pickett - Open Season
Ray Bradbury: Crumley Mysteries - Death Is a Lonely Business
D.W. Buffa: Joseph Antonelli - The Defense
James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux - The Neon Rain
James Lee Burke: Billy Bob Holland - Cimarron Rose
Jan Burke: Irene Kelly - Goodnight, Irene
W.J. Burley: Wycliffe - Wycliffe and the Three-Toed Pussy
Stephen J. Cannell: Shane Scully - The Tin Collectors
Jane Casey: Maeve Kerrigan - The Burning
Suzanne Chazin: Georgia Skeehan - The Fourth Angel
Lee Child: Jack Reacher - Killing Floor
Paul Cleave: Theodore Tate - Cemetery Lake
Ann Cleeves: Vera Stanhope - The Crow Trap
Ann Cleeves: Matthew Venn - The Long Call
Gabriel Cohen: Detective Jack Leightner - Red Hook
Deborah Crombie: Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James - A Share In Death
Robert Crais: Elvis Cole - The Monkey's Raincoat
David Cray: Julie Brennan - Little Girl Blue
Edwidge Danticat (ed.): Haiti Noir - Haiti Noir
Jeffery Deaver: Lincoln Rhyme - The Bone Collector
Nelson Demille: John Corey - Plum Island
Nelson Demille: Paul Brenner - The General's Daughter
Michael Dibdin: Aurelio Zen - Ratking
Martin Edwards: Harry Devlin - All the Lonely People
Martin Edwards: Lake District Mysteries - The Coffin Trail
Loren D. Estleman: Amos Walker - Motor City Blue
Linda Fairstein: Alexandra Cooper - Final Jeopardy
Helen Fields: Luc Callanach - Perfect Remains
Earlene Fowler: Benni Harper - Fool's Puzzle
Dick Francis: Sid Halley - Odds Against
Hugh Fraser: Rina Walker - Harm
Erle Stanley Gardner: Perry Mason - The Case of the Velvet Claws
Lee Goldberg: Eve Ronin - Lost Hills
Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone - 'A' is for Alibi
Nicola Griffith: Aud Torvingen - The Blue Place
Martha Grimes: Andi Oliver - Biting the Moon
Denise Hamilton: Eve Diamond - The Jasmine Trade
Hugo Hamilton: Pat Coyne - Headbanger
Gary Hardwick: Danny Cavanaugh - Color of Justice
Charlaine Harris: Lily Bard - Shakespeare's Landlord
Donald Harstad: Carl Houseman - Eleven Days
Mo Hayder: Jack Caffery - Birdman
Mick Herron: Slough House - Slow Horses
Reginald Hill: Dalziel & Pascoe - A Clubbable Woman
Alan Hunter: George Gently - Gently Does it
Greg Iles: Mississippi - Mortal Fear
Jon A. Jackson: Detective Sergeant Mulheisen - The Diehard
J.A. Jance: Walker Family - Hour of the Hunter
William Jefferies: John Pellam - Shallow Graves
Craig Johnson: Longmire - The Cold Dish
Morag Joss: Sarah Selkirk - Funeral Music
Mons Kallentoft: Malin Fors - Midwinter Sacrifice
Jonathan Kellerman: Alex Delaware - When the Bough Breaks
Jonathan Kellerman: Petra Connor - Billy Straight
Graeme Kent: Sister Conchita & Sergeant Kella - Devil-Devil
William Kent Krueger: Cork O'Connor - Iron Lake
Hans Olav Lahlum: K2 - The Human Flies
Joe R. Lansdale: Hap Collins & Leonard Pine - Savage Season
Elmore Leonard: Ordell Robbie & Louis Gara - The Switch
Elmore Leonard: Jack Ryan - The Big Bounce
Elmore Leonard: Raylan Givens - Pronto
John Lescroart: Dismas Hardy - Dead Irish
M.L. Longworth: Verlaque & Bonnet Provençal Mysteries - Death at the Chateau Bremont
Robert Ludlum: Jason Bourne - The Boune Identity
Gayle Lynds: Judd Ryder & Eva Blake - The Book of Spies
John D. MacDonald: Travis McGee - The Deep Blue Good-By
Helen MacInnes: Robert Renwick - Prelude to Terror
Petros Markaris: Costas Haritos - Deadline in Athens
Sujata Massey: Rei Shimura - The Salaryman's Wife
Jason Matthews: Red Sparrow Trilogy - Red Sparrow
Ed McBain: 87 Precinct - Cop Hater
Sharyn McCrumb: Elizabeth MacPherson - Sick of Shadows
Michael McGarrity: Kevin Kerney - Tularosa
Denise Mina: Paddy Meehan - Field of Blood
Kirk Mitchell: Emmett Parker & Anna Turnipseed - Cry Dance
Theresa Monsour: Paris Murphy - Clean Cut
Barbara Nadel: Inspector İkmen - Belshazzar's Daughter
Tiina Nunnally: Margit Andersson - Runemaker
Carol O'Connell: Kathleen Mallory - Mallory's Oracle
Brian O'Hare: DCI Jim Sheehan - The Doom Murders
Meta Osredkar: Kriminalinspektor Kos - Hochwürden stirbt grausam
Perri O'Shaughnessy: Nina Reilly - Motion to Suppress
T. Jefferson Parker: Merci Rayborn - The Blue Hour
James Patterson: Alex Cross - Along Came a Spider
James Patterson: Women's Murder Club - 1st to Die
Eliot Pattison: Inspector Shan Tao Yun - The Skull Mantra
David Peace: Red Riding Quartet - Nineteen Seventy Four
Ridley Pearson: Boldt / Matthews - Undercurrents
T.R. Pearson: Ray Tatum - Cry Me a River
George Pelecanos: Nick Stefanos - A Firing Offense
George Pelecanos: Spero Lucas - The Cut
Thomas Perry: Jane Whitefield - Vanishing Act
Ellis Peters: Felse Investigations - Fallen Into the Pit
Nancy Pickard: Marie Lightfoot - The Whole Truth
J.D. Robb: In Death - Naked in Death
Gillian Roberts: Amanda Pepper - Caught Dead in Philadelphia
S.J. Rozan: Bill Smith & Lydia Chin - China Trade
Carlos Ruiz Zafón: Cementerio de los libros olvidados - La sombra del viento
John Sandford: Lucas Davenport - Rules of Prey
John Sandford: Kidd and LuEllen - The Fool's Run
Beth Saulnier: Alex Bernier - Reliable Souces
Julie Schumacher: Jason Fitger - Dear Committee Members
Lisa See: Red Princess Mysteries - Flower Net
Barbara Seranella: Munch Mancini - No Human Involved
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - Þóra Guðmundsdóttir - Last Rituals
Daniel Silva: Gabriel Allon - The Kill Artist
Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö: Martin Beck - Roseanna
Karin Slaughter: Grant County - Blindsighted
Karin Slaughter: Will Trent - Tryptich
Julie Smith: Skip Langdon - New Orleans Mourning
Julie Smith: Rebecca Schwartz - Death Turns a Trick
Martin Cruz Smith: Arkady Renko - Gorky Park
Julia Spencer-Fleming: Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne - In the Bleak Midwinter
James Swain: Tony Valentine - Grift Sense
Julian Symons: Inspector Bland - The Immaterial Murder Case
Julian Symons: Sheridan Haynes - A Three-Pipe Problem
Peter Temple: The Broken Shore - The Broken Shore
Steve Thayer: Pliny Pennington - The Wheat Field
Aimée & David Thurlo: Ella Clah - Blackening Song
M.J. Trow: Mad Max - Maxwell's House
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán: Pepe Carvalho - Yo maté a Kennedy
Mary Willis Walker: Molly Cates - The Red Scream
Jess Walter: Caroline Mabry - Over Tumbled Graves
Betty Webb: Lena Jones - Desert Noir
Janwillem van de Wetering: Henk Grijpstra & Rinus de Gier - Outsider in Amsterdam
Robert Wilson: Javier Falcon - The Blind Man of Seville
Robert Wilson: Bruce Medway - Instruments of Darkness
David Wiltse: Billy Tree - Heartland
Stuart Woods: Stone Barrington - New York Dead

 

 

HISTORICAL FICTION (INCL. HISTORICAL MYSTERIES)

Rennie Airth: Inspector Madden - River of Darkness
Boris Akunin: Erast Fandorin - The Winter Queen
Edoardo Albert: Northumbrian Thrones - Edwin: High King of Britain
Edoardo Albert: Conrad Monk - Conrad Monk and the Great Heathen Army
Tasha Alexander: Lady Emily - And Only to Deceive
Isabel Allende: Eliza Sommers - Hija de la fortuna
Maureen Ash: Templar Knight Mystery - The Alehouse Murders
Nancy Bilyeau: Joanna Stafford - The Crown
Caleb Carr: Dr. Laszlo Kreizler - The Alienist
Elizabeth Chadwick: Eleanor of Aquitaine - The Summer Queen
P.F. Chisholm: Sir Robert Carey - A Famine of Heroes
Rory Clements: John Shakespeare - Martyr
Toby Clements: Kingmaker - Winter Pilgrims
Barbara Cleverly: Joe Sandilands - The Last Kashmiri Rose
Gary Corby: Athenian Mysteries - The Pericles Commission
Lindsey Davis: Marcus Didius Falco - The Silver Pigs
Roddy Doyle: The Last Roundup - A Star Called Henry
Colin Falconer: William Shakespeare Detective Agency - The School of Night
Ken Follett: Century Trilogy - Fall of Giants
C.S. Forester: Horatio Hornblower - Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Ariana Franklin: Adelia Aguilar - Mistress of the Art of Death
George MacDonald Fraser: The Flashman Papers - Flashman
Kristin Gleeson & Moonyeen Blakey: Renaissance Sojourner - The Imp of Eye
William Golding: To the Ends of the Earth - Rites of Passage
Jason Goodwin: Investigator Yashim - The Janissary Tree
Kate Grenville: Thornhill Family - The Secret River
Don Gutteridge: Marc Edwards - Turncoat
Barbara Hambly: Benjamin January - A Free Man of Color
Matthew Harffy: Bernicia Chronicles - The Serpent Sword
C.S. Harris: Sebastian St. Cyr - What Angels Fear
Simon Hawke: Shakespeare & Smythe - A Mystery of Errors
Bruce Holsinger: John Gower - A Burnable Book
Conn Iggulden: War of the Roses - Stormbird
Christian Jacq: Ramses - The Son of Light
Michael Jecks: Vintener Trilogy - Fields of Glory
Elizabeth Jolley: Vera Wright Trilogy - My Father's Moon
Laurie R. King: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes - The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Bernard Knight: Crowner John - Crowner's Crusade
Sujata Massey: Perveen Mistry - The Widows of Malabar Hill
Cormac McCarthy: Border Trilogy - All the Pretty Horses
Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove - Lonesome Dove
Anchee Min: Empress Orchid - Empress Orchid
Walter Mosley: Fearless Jones - Fearless Jones
Abir Mukherjee: Sam Wyndham - A Rising Man
Charles O'Brien: Anne Cartier - Mute Witness
Joseph O'Connor: Star of the Sea - Star of the Sea
I.J. Parker: Sugawara Akitada - The Dragon Scroll
Jean-François Parot: Nicolas Le Floch - L'énigme des Blancs-Manteaux
Owen Parry: Abel Jones - Faded Coat of Blue
Renee Patrick: Lillian Frost & Edith Head - Design for Dying
Sharon Kay Penman: Welsh Princes Trilogy - Here Be Dragons
Andrea Penrose: Wrexford & Sloane - Murder on Black Swan Lane
Arturo Pérez-Reverte: Capitán Alatriste - El Capitán Alatriste
Jean Plaidy: Queens of England - Myself, My Enemy
Jean Plaidy: Isabella and Ferdinand - Castile for Isabella
Jean Plaidy: Catherine de' Medici - Madame Serpent
Oliver Pötzsch: Die Henkerstochter - Die Henkerstochter
D.M. Quincy: Atlas Catesby - Murder in Mayfair
Judith Rock: Charles du Luc - The Rhetoric of Death
Kate Ross: Julian Kestrel - Cut to the Quick
Laura Joh Rowland: San Ichiro - Shinjú
James Runcie: Grantchester Mysteries - Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death
Edward Rutherfurd: Dublin Saga - The Princes of Ireland
Emilio Salgari : The Pirates of Melanesia - Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem
Michael Shaara: Civil War Trilogy - Gods and Generals
Margaret Skea: Katharina Luther - Katharina: Deliverance
Amy Stewart: Kopp Sisters - Girl Waits With Gun
S.D. Sykes: Somershill Manor - Plague Land
Andrew Taylor: James Marwood & Cat Lovett - The Ashes of London
Will Thomas: Barker and Llewelyn - Some Danger Involved
Charles Todd: Inspector Ian Rutledge - A Test of Wills
Charles Todd: Bess Crawford - A Duty to the Dead
Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Buru Quartet - This Earth of Mankind
Gail Tsukiyama: Women of the Silk - Women of the Silk
Gore Vidal: Narratives of Empire - Burr
Richard Zimler: Sephardic Cycle - The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

 

 

COZY MYSTERIES

Sandra Balzo: Maggy Thorsen - Uncommon Grounds
Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who ... - The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mysteries - Death by Darjeeling
Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Schulz - Catering for Nobody
Ruth Dudley Edwards: Robert Amiss - Corridors of Death
Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum - One for the Money
Jerrilyn Farmer: Madeline Bean - Sympathy for the Devil
Martin H. Greenberg & Edward Gorman (eds.): Cat Crimes - Cat Crimes I
Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mysteries - Death on Demand
Miranda James: Cat in the Stacks Mysteries - Murder Past Due
Kylie Logan: Leage of Literary Ladies - Mayhem at the Orient Express
Tamar Myers: Amanda Brown - The Witch Doctor's Wife
Sofie Ryan - Second Chance Cat Mysteries - The Whole Cat and Caboodle
Various Authors: Annie's Attic Mysteries - Tara Randel: The Lady in the Attic
Various Authors: Mystery Cats - Mystery Cats
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles - Thyme of Death

 

 

FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION / SUPERNATURAL

Ben Aaronovitch: Peter Grant - Rivers of London
Ann Aguirre: Dred Chronicles - Perdition
Lloyd Alexander: Chronicles of Prydain - The Book of Three
Sarah Addison Allen: Waverley Family - Garden Spells
Isaac Asimov: Robot - I, Robot
Isaac Asimov: Foundation Trilogy - Foundation
Pat Barker: Regeneration Trilogy - Regeneration
Stephen Baxter: Xeelee - Raft
Anne Bishop: The Others - Written in Red
Terry Brooks: Magic Kingdom of Landover - Magic Kingdom for Sale / Sold
Jim Butcher: Dresden Files - Storm Front
Octavia E. Butler: Xenogenesis Trilogy - Dawn
Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game - Ender's Game
Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel's Legacy - Kushiel's Dart
S.A. Chakraborty: Daevabad Trilogy - The City of Brass
C.J. Cheryh: Morgaine Saga - The Chronicles of Morgaine
C.J. Cherryh: Foreigner - Foreigner
Roshani Chokshi: Star-Touched Queen - The Star-Touched Queen
Rin Chupeco: The Bone Witch - The Bone Witch
Arthur C. Clarke: Space Odyssey - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising - Over Sea, Under Stone
Charles de Lint: Ottawa and the Valley - Moonheart
Stephen R. Donaldson: Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Lord Foul's Bane
Nancy K. Duplechain: Dark Trilogy - Dark Bayou
David Eddings: Elenium - The Elenium
David Eddings: Malloreon . Guardians of the West
David & Leigh Eddings: Belgariad - Belgarath the Sorcerer
Raymond E. Feist: Riftwar Saga - Magician
Jasper Fforde: Thursday Next - The Eyre Affair
Jack Finney: Time - Time and Again
Michael Flynn: Firestar - Firestar
Esther M. Friesner: New York - New York by Knight
Neil Gaiman: American Gods - American Gods
Neil Gaiman: The Sandman - Preludes and Nocturnes
Neil Gaiman: The Absolute Sandman - Volume 1
David Gemmell - Drenai Saga - Legend
Mary Gentle: Golden Witchbreed - Golden Witchbreed
William Gibson: Sprawl - Neuromancer
William Gibson: Blue Ant - Pattern Recognition
Barbara Hambly: Winterlands - Dragonsbane
Alwyn Hamilton: Rebel of the Sands - Rebel of the Sands
Frank Herbert: Dune - Dune
Jim C. Hines: Princess - The Stepsister Scheme
P.C. Hodgell: Kencyrath - God Stalk
Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic - The Rules of Magic
Robert Holdstock: Mythago Wood - Mythago Wood
William Horwood: Duncton Chronicles - Duncton Wood
Diana Wynne Jones: Derkholm - Dark Lord of Derkholm
Robert Jordan: Wheel of Time - The Eye of the World
Katherine Kurtz: Chronicles of the Deryni - Deryni Rising
Ellen Kushner: World of Riverside - Swordspoint
Mercedes Lackey: Heralds of Valdemar - Arrows of the Queen
Mercedes Lackey: Bardic Voices - Four and Twenty Blackbirds
Shelly Laurenston: Call of Crows - The Unleashing
Ursula K. Le Guin: Earthsea Cycle - A Wizard of Earthsea
Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Cycle - The Dispossessed
Ursula K. Le Guin: Annals of the Western Shore - Gifts
Ursula K. Le Guin: Orsinia - Malafrena
Fritz Leiber: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - Swords and Deviltry
Doris Lessing: Canopus in Argos - Shikasta:Re: Colonised Planet 5
Juliet Marillier: Wildwood - Wildwood Dancing
John Marsden: Tomorrow - Tomorrow, When the War Began
Julian May: Saga of Piocene Exile - The Many-Colored Land
Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Pern - Dragonflight
Anne McCaffrey: Pern: Harper Hall - Dragonsong
Dennis L: McKiernan: Mithgar - The Dragonstone
Patricia A. McKillip: Riddle-Master - The Riddle-Master of Hed
Robin McKinley: Damar - The Blue Sword
Lois McMaster Bujold: Chalion - The Curse of Chalion
Marissa Meyer: Lunar Chronicles - Cinder
Michael Moorcock: Elric - Elric
Peter Morwood: Tales of Old Russia - Prince Ivan
Andre Norton: Witch World: Eastcarp Cycle - Witch World
Andre Norton: Moon Magic - Moon of Three Rings
Wendy & Richard Pini - Complete ElfQuest - Volume 1
Melanie Rawn: Dragon Prince - Dragon Prince
Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space - Revelation Space
Jennifer Roberson: Tiger and Del - Sword-Dancer
Fred Saberhagen: Lost Swords - Woundhealer's Story
R.A. Salvatore: Legend of Drizzt - Homeland
R.A. Salvatore: Spearwielder's Tale - The Woods Out Back
R.A. Salvatore: Corona: Saga of the First King - The Highwayman
Brandon Sanderson: The Reckoners - Steelheart
John Scalzi: Old Man's War - Old Man's War
John Scalzi: Lock In - Lock In
Bob Shaw: Land and Overland - Ragged Astronauts
Robert Shea: Illuminatus! - The Eye in the Pyramid
Dan Simmons: Hyperion - Hyperion
Maggie Stiefvater: Wolves of Mercy Falls - Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater: Raven Cycle - The Raven Boys
Michael J. Sullivan: Riyria Revelations - Theft of Swords
Judith Tarr: Alamut - Alamut
Judith Tarr: The Hound and the Falcon - The Isle of Glass
Amy Thomson: The Color of Distance - The Color od Distance
Megan Whalen Turner: The Queen's Thief - The Thief
Catherynne M. Valente: The Orphan's Tales - In the Night Garden
Jack Vance: The Dying Earth - The Dying Earth
Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples: Saga - Volume 1
Evangeline Walton: Mabinogion Tetralogy - Prince of Annwn
Peter Watts: Firefall - Blindsight
Andy Weir: The Martian - The Martian
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman: Rose of the Prophet Trilogy - The Will of the Wanderer
Zack & Joss Whedon: Serenity - Those Left Behind
Kim Wilkins: Europa - The Autumn Castle
Connie Willis: Oxford Time Travel - Doomsday Book
Janny Wurts: The Cycle of Fire - Stormwarden
Janny Wurts: Wars of Light and Shadow - The Curse of the Mistwraith
Jane Yolen: Great Alta - Sister Light, Sister Dark
Marion Zimmer Bradley: Avalon - The Mists of Avalon
Marion Zimmer Bradley: Darkover - The Planet Savers
David Zindell: A Requiem for Homo Sapiens - The Broken God

 

 

CLASSICS & LITFIC

Chinua Achebe: African Trilogy - Things Fall Apart
Ivo Andrić: Bosnian Trilogy - The Bridge on the Drina
Paul Auster: New York Trilogy - City of Glass
John Banville: Cleave Trilogy - Eclipse
John Banville: Revolutions Trilogy - Doctor Copernicus
Simone de Beauvoir: Le deuxième sexe - tome 1
Ray Bradbury: Green Town - Dandelion Wine
Anthony Burgess: Enderby Quartet - Inside Mister Enderby
Joseph Campbell: The Masks of God - Primitive Mythology
Joyce Cary: First Trilogy - Herself Surprised
Paulo Coelho: And on the Seventh Day Trilogy - Veronica Decides to Die
J.M. Coetzee: Scenes From Provincial Life - Boyhood
Maryse Condé: Ségou - Ségou
Robertson Davies: Deptford Trilogy - Fifth Business
Roddy Doyle: Barrytown Trilogy - The Commitments
Alexandre Dumas: Sainte-Hermine Cycle - Les Blancs et les Bleus
Lawrence Durrell: Alexandria Quartet - Justine
William Faulkner: Snopes Trilogy - The Hamlet
Elena Ferrante: Neapolitan Quartet - My Brilliant Friend
Lion Feuchtwanger: Wartesaal-Trilogie - Erfolg
Theodor Fontane: Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg - Die Grafschaft Ruppin
Ford Madox Ford: Parade's End - Some Do Not ...
Eduardo Galeano: Memoria del fuego - Los nacimientos
Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections in Natural History - Ever Since Darwin
Juan Goytisolo: Álvaro Mendiola - Señas de identidad
Richard Hooker: M*A*S*H - M*A*S*H
William James: The Principles of Psychology - Volume 1
Guadalupe Loaeza: Las niñas bien - Las niñas bien
Olivia Manning: Fortunes of War / The Balkan Trilogy - The Great Fortune
Javier Marías: Tu rostro mañana - Fiebre y lanza
Grace Matalious: Peyton Place - Peyton Place
Armistead Maupin: Tales of the City - Tales of the City
Alexander McCall Smith: 44 Scotland Street - 44 Scotland Street
Yukio Mishima: The Sea of Fertility - Spring Snow
Nancy Mitford: Radlett & Montdore - The Pursuit of Love
Anna Maria Ortese: A Music Behind the Wall - Volume 1
Plutarch: Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans - Volume 1
Marcel Proust: À la recherche du temps perdu - Du côté de chez Swann
Miss Read: Fairacre - Village School
Dorothy Richardson: Pilgrimage - Pointed Roofs
Philip Roth: American Trilogy - American Pastoral
April Sinclair: Stevie Stevenson - Coffee Will Make You Black
Ali Smith: Seasonal - Autumn
Edward St Aubyn: Patrick Melrose - Never Mind
Wallace Stegner: Mason Family - The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Elizabeth Strout: Amgash - My Name Is Lucy Barton
John Updike: Rabbit Angstrom - Rabbit, Run
Various Authors: The Austen Project - Joanna Trollope: Sense & Sensibility
Gore Vidal: Myra Breckinridge - Myra Breckinridge
Martin Walser: Anselm Kristlein Trilogie - Halbzeit
Alan Warner: Morvern Callar Cycle - Morvern Callar
Elie Wiesel: Night Trilogy - Night
P.G. Wodehouse: Blandings Castle - Something Fresh

 

 

HISTORY & (AUTO)BIOGRAPHY

Peter Ackroyd: History of England - Foundation
Lillian Beckwith: Hebridian Trilogy - The Hills Is Lonely
Taylor Branch: America in the King Years - Parting the Waters
Douglas Brinkley & Luke A. Nichter: The Nixon Tapes - 1971-1972
Michael Burlingame: Abraham Lincoln, A Life - Volume 1
Robert A. Caro: The Years of Lyndon Johnson - The Path to Power
Winston Churchill: The Second World War - The Gathering Storm
Gerald Durrell: Corfu Trilogy - My Family and Other Animals
Niall Ferguson: The House of Rothschild - Money's Prophets, 1798-1848
Shelby Foote: The Civil War - Fort Sumter to Perryville
Gabriel García Márquez: Autobiography - Vivir para contarla
William Goldman: Adventures in the Screen Trade - Adventures in the Screen Trade
Henry Kissinger: Memoirs - White House Years
Betty MacDonald: Memoirs - The Egg and I
Gavin Maxwell: Ring of Bright Water Trilogy - Ring of Bright Water
Peter Mayle: Provence - A Year in Provence
William Least Heat-Moon: Travel Trilogy - Blue Highways
Edmund Morris: Theodore Roosevelt - The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Jan Morris: Pax Britannica - Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress
Ian Mortimer: Time Traveler's Guides - The Time Traveler's Guide to the Middle Ages
John Mortimer: Autobiography - Clinging to the Wreckage
Beverly Nichols: Merry Hall Trilogy - Merry Hall
George Orwell: Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters - An Age Like This: 1920-1940
Francis Parkman: France and England in North America - Pioneers of France in the New World
Penguin History of Europe - Simon Price: The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine
Margaret Sanders: Intimate Letters - Intimate Letters of England's Queens
George Bernard Shaw: Collected Letters - 1874-1897
Chris Stewart: Lemons Trilogy - Driving Over Lemons
Jonathan Sumption: The Hundred Years War - Trial by Battle
Theodore H. White: The Making of the President - 1960

 

Wow.  What a beginning.  And just for a moment, I wanted to wring Ms. Ellis's neck there.  Hard.

Well, this rather improved on me quite a bit upon a reread! I still love the humor (for once, virtually without the sarcasm that is present in so many of Heyer's other books), Vicky and her mother are pure sparks of joy, and I even remembered the solution (though definitely not all the technical bits, which in fact I'm bound to have forgotten all over again by later today probably).  Now if only Heyer didn't have a penchant for making at least one part of the HEA element of the resolution feel quite so much like insta-love in practically every single one of her books ... (or, well, her mysteries, anyway).

I went for a short walk earlier this afternoon (alone, of course) -- the kind of thing we're still allowed to do to maintain a modicum of exercise and intake of fresh air.

 

This is what our street looked like -- and what it, and all the streets in our neighborhood have been looking like ever since the lockdown was put into place:

 

So far, so good.

 

Then I got to the park / promenade on the banks of the Rhine, some 2 streets (and only a few 100 metres) away.  It's a popular spot year-round -- in fact, it's one of Bonn's major parks, covering a large area on both sides of the Rhine -- and I knew others would be drawn there, too; given today's extraordinarily fine weather, it wouldn't have been realistic to expect it to be completely empty.

 

But I certainly wasn't prepared for this:

 

And not a cop in sight.

 

I sure hope they'll do a better job enforcing the lockdown over Easter -- when we're supposed to have equally fine weather here.

... and I refuse to accept any other / specific reason for the recent flurry of buddy reads; I just intend to go on enjoying them.  Also my first Heyer reread since whipping through her entire mystery collection over the course of the past couple of years, and I'm so ready for it.

 

Let's do this!

 

 

Bonus mystery image from last night (following on from this post):

 

Spot the cat!

Snagged from LinkedIn:

 

It reads:

 

Mom has a conference call!

09:00 - 11:00 AM.

 

!DO NOT ENTER!

 

The answer to your question may be:

 

* It's in the laundry.

* NO!

* I don't know yet what we'll be having for lunch.

* Have a fruit.

* Look in your room.

* Ignore him and go to your room.

 

 

In other news, this is a picture of our building's entrance that I took this morning -- neighbors offering to go shopping or run errands for other neighbors who can't or don't want to do them themselves:

 

 

It started with one message, immediately when the lockdown measures were put in place in Germany -- now we're already up to three.  This is one of the many reasons why I love living in this place ...

I was working late last night and Charlie decided to join me.  After having dithered a while where to take up temporary residence, he picked ... a box, of course; one of the few that have, by sheer dint of emergency storage, so far survived the Big Decluttering Project.  Given that both the box itself and the topmost layer of its contents are also black and white (like him), the effect was rather cute, particularly as bit by bit, he vanished deeper and deeper into the box:

 

I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to revisit "Miss Silver" books because I've read almost all the books in the series at least once.  (There are only some five or so books left that I've yet to read for the first time.)  So I figured, I might just as well start my rereads with the very first "Miss Silver" book I ever read, even before Tigus got us all hooked on the entire series, to see how my first impressions hold up now that I've encountered Maudie a good many times.  And I'm happy to say that yes, this is definitely still a favorite installment.

 

Some quick comments:

 

* Miss Silver should have brought cough drops on her visit to her friend.  I mean, we all know those little meaningful coughs are an indelible part of her character, but jeez, she really can't open her mouth without beginning virtually every statement with one of them here.

 

* There are no less than two professionals who should have recused themselves from having anything to do with the matter (one of them on multiple grounds, at least one of which they're openly discussing, albeit not under the headline of a conflict of interests).  The story wouldn't be what it is without them (and their conflict), so obviously recusal can't enter into things from a writerly point of view, but I'd still at least have liked to at least see it addressed for what it is -- especially in light of the very active part that one of these persons takes in the action, which would be uncalled-for even under normal circumstances and is plainly inexcusable from a professional perspective here.  For however much I otherwise like the book, this is one of the reasons I'm withholding a higher rating.

 

* I love the fact that this book, for once, doesn't focus on Wentworth's panoply of young protagonists (strong and independent, TSTL, or otherwise), but rather, on middle-aged people.  There are a few twenty-somethings as well, but they are decidedly less interesting (and with one exception, also less important) than the real MCs, who are all in their 40s or above.  I wish Wentworth had focused on that age group in a few more of her books; she did it really well.  (I love the way how she creates characters anyway, but this book contains some of her strongest yet.)

 

* The plotting is rather well done here, too; similar to the way in which Agatha Christie might have done it, in fact.

(And to those who would accuse Wentworth of dropping the solution deus-ex-machina-style, having revisited the book I'll respond that there actually are enough clues spread throughout the book to allow you to at the very least form a suspicion as to the "who", "why", and "how", if not actually solve the case, applying the same sort of logic that Miss Silver does.  This is all the more true as, even though Wentworth applies a technique similar to Christie's, she does so somewhat less dexterously than Christie, so while it's very obvious which conflicts she is interested in and why she presents the story the way she does, not every reader will necessarily be taken in entirely.)

(show spoiler)

 

* Frank Abbott still remains my favorite policeman in the series.  Randal March is nice enough, but no dice compared to Frank -- whom even the profoundest respect for Miss Silver won't stop from making fun of her every so often.

 

MARCH 2020 UPDATE:

 

I know that I previously said that I wasn't going to do any games aside from Halloween Bingo in 2020, but that was Pre-COVID-19. Here we all are, stuck in our houses and reading like mad.

 

So, why wouldn't we play a game?

 

 

I decided to just repurpose Snakes & Ladders for this one! It's an easy, fun game and I don't have to do any work at all to get it ready.

 

 

 

 

 

RULES OF THE GAME:

 

Everyone starts on 1. There are two alternative ways to move forward.

 

1. Read a book that fits the description on the space number as listed below and you can roll two dice to move forward more quickly.

 

2. However, if you can't find a book to fit the square, don't worry about it. You can read any book, and roll one dice on random.org.  This is to ensure that if a reader cannot find a book to fill the square, no one gets bogged down and can't move on.

 

All books must be at least 200 pages long. Short stories count, so long as you read enough of them from a collection to equal 200 pages. 

 

You do not need to hit space 100 with an exact roll. In order to win, you must complete space 100 as written.

 

Spaces:

 

1. Author is a woman

2. Genre: mystery

3. Set in the twentieth century

4. Published in 2019

5. Published in 2018

6. Title has a color word in it

7. Author's last name begins with the letters A, B, C, or D.

8. Author's last name begins with the letters E, F, G, or H.

9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K

10. Author's last name begins with the letters L, M, N or O

11. Author's last name begins with the letters P, Q, R, or S

12. Author's last name begins with the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z

13. Author is a man

14. Author is dead

15. Genre: romance

16. Genre: fantasy

17. Genre: horror

18. Set in a school

19. Set in the UK

20. Set in a country that is not your country of residence

21. Set in Europe

22. Set in Asia

23. Set in Australia/Oceania

24. Set in Africa

25. Snake - go back to 5

26. Part of a series that is more than 5 books long

27. Set during WWI or WWII

28. Written between 1900 and 1999

29. Someone travels by plane

30. Someone travels by train

31. Road trip

32. Genre: thriller

33. Set in North America

34. Snake - go back to 1

35. Has been adapted as a movie

36. Set in Central or South America

37. Has won an award

38. Newest release by a favorite author

39. A reread

40. Characters involved in the entertainment industry

41. Characters involved in politics

42. Characters involved in sports/sports industry

43. Characters involved in the law

44. Characters involved in cooking/baking

43. Characters involved in medicine

44. Characters involved in science/technology

45. A book that has been on your tbr for more than one year

46. A book that has been on your tbr for more than two years

47. Snake - go back to 19

48. A book you acquired in February, 2019.

49. Recommended by a friend

50. Has a domestic animal on the cover

51. Has a wild animal on the cover

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover

53. Has something that can be used as a weapon on the cover

54. Is more than 400 pages long

55. Is more than 500 pages long

56. Was published more than 100 years ago

57. Was published more than 50 years ago

58. Was published more than 25 years ago

59. Was published more than 10 years ago

60. Was published last year

61. Cover is more than 50% red

62. Cover is more than 50% green

63. Cover is more than 50% blue

64. Cover is more than 50% yellow

65. Snake - go back to 52

66. Part of a series that is more than 10 books long

67. Set in a city with a population of greater than 5 million people (link)

68. Something related to weddings on the cover

69. Something related to travel on the cover

70. Something related to fall/autumn on the cover

71. Involves the beach/ocean/lake 

72. Involves the mountains/forests 

73. Categorized as YA

74. Categorized as Middle Grade

75. Set in a fantasy world

76. Set in a world with magic

77. Has a "food" word in the title

78. Set in a small town (fictional or real)

79. Main character is a woman

80. Main character is a man

81. Ghost story

82. Genre: urban fantasy

83. Genre: cozy mystery

84. Genre: police procedural

85. Written by an author who has published more than 10 books

86. Author's debut book

87. Snake - go back to 57

88. Comic/graphic novel

89. Published between 2000 and 2017

90. A new-to-you author

91. Snake - go back to 61

92. Reread of a childhood favorite

93. Author's first/last initial same as yours (real or BL handle)

94. Non-fiction

95. Memoir

96. From your favorite genre

97. Title starts with any of the letters in SNAKE

98. Title starts with any of the letters in LADDERS

99. Snake - go back to 69

100. Let BL pick it for you: post 4 choices and read the one that gets the most votes!

 

ADDITIONS TO THE RULES

See comments to the post for further explanations or to ask questions

 

When you start on square 1, you need to read a book before you can roll. If your book fills the square, you get to roll two dice. If your book doesn't not fit the square, roll one dice only.

 

With respect to the ladder squares: You must read a book in order to climb the ladder. Once you finish the book for the ladder square, climb the ladder to the ending square. If you read a book that fits the ending square, roll two dice to move on, otherwise, roll one dice.

 

For audiobook substitutions, either check the print book to determine if it is more than 200 pages long, or any audiobook that is a minimum of 5 hours & 30 minutes qualifies.

 

 

 

 

Well, this was enjoyable.  As in some of Wentworth's other books, the mystery wasn't much to write home about (spoiler tags nevertheless, because at least one participant of the buddy read is still reading the book) --

 

the principal villains are known pretty much from the word "go", as is the way the whole thing was worked (there's one huge clue fairly early on which essentially gives the game away, and the false alibi is based on a trope that wasn't even new any longer when the book was first written); it's also clear that the fact that the guy currently languishing in prison is actually innocent of the crime; and so, too, in the "romance" compartment, it's being telegraphed literally from page 1 which one is the relationship we're following --

(show spoiler)

 

but at least Miss Silver makes more of an appearance than in book 1 (and she is decidedly more recognizable here as the character we know from later books than in book 1), and you can't help but love and root for Hilary, the female MC, and her "inner imp".  (The imp's poems had me laughing out loud -- every single one of them.)  Whatever made Hilary pick Henry, of all people, as her heart's desire beats me as much as everybody else in this buddy read; though I'll grant that he redeemed himself ever so slightly towards the end, and with liberal doses of frying pans and Hilary's imp I do see some hope for him ... he's just got learn to listen to his better / true instincts and not to what he believes others expect him to think and feel, and what therefore must be the "right" (i.e., socially acceptable) response.  (Incidentally, I loved how Diana Bishop in the audio version read the passages from inside Henry's head with an undeniably ironic subtext, thereby suggesting that Wentworth is mocking him for being the idiot he is.  This worked very well for me.)

 

Now having read the majority of the books in the series, I can also safely say I'm not a fan of "Wentworth does Gothic".  This book's "foggy road" episode was one of the better-executed examples, but I still wish she'd left "young heroine thoughtlessly puts herself in a sinister situation that she can't control (and which a wiser head would either have avoided or at least not entered alone)" behind at some point.  Unfortunately, that wasn't to be; almost every book of the series contains at least one example of this sort of thing.  So, unlike others in the buddy read, I'm not a fan of the "foggy road" episode.  Maybe if this had been the first book by Wentworth I read, I would feel different about it (and as I said, for what it's worth on its own, it's comparatively well done).  But as a recurring event in almost every book ... thank you, but no.

 

By and large, though, I enjoyed being back in Miss Silver's world -- I only missed Frank Abbott --, I still love how Wentworth creates characters, and this book is also a marked step up from Gray Mask; less reliant on tropes (even if some are still present), and for once, thankfully also devoid of TSTL females.

 

As a final side note, I wonder (have been wondering for a while) whether Wentworth ever heard from her contemporary / fellow mystery novelist and great-niece of Tennyson (the poet), F. Tennyson Jesse, on Miss Silver's unquestioning adoration of "Lord Tennyson".

 

(I already finished this book last night, btw, but life intervened earlier today, so I'm only getting around to posting my summary now.)

Just under the halfway mark, and Miss Silver is being called in AT LAST.  (By the odious Henry and very much against his conviction, not least, which means that the first thing he'll llikely be in for is having the rug pulled out from under his feet and landing on his bottom.  Good -- I hope it will be a hard landing.)  And the person recommending Miss Silver is ... our old friend Charles Moray from The Gray Mask.  I'm not sure I want him to make another appearance here, either ...