Cross-genre delight
One thing you learn when becoming a readers’ advisor is, you can’t be a book snob. Some people pride themselves on only reading “worthy” or “classic” or “literary” fiction. Others believe that while mainstream fiction is legitimate, anything… Read More
Superheroes / Antiheroes
If Marvel movies about superheroes and evil geniuses haven’t yet palled for you, there is a young adult novel you might want to try: Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart. It doesn’t feel like a book written for teenagers, but more like… Read More
K is for Kinsey
I have recently been making my way through the books of Sue Grafton, beginning with A is for Alibi. I had never read any of Grafton’s books because, by the time she appeared on my radar, she had… Read More
An epic saga revisited
As I was driving along the other day, I found myself behind someone whose car had a personalized license plate that read “STREEL.” This is a place-name (and something more) in a large and dramatic story I haven’t thought… Read More
Louise Penny
I was emailing with a former co-worker from the library the other day. She shares my love of a good mystery, and we were doing the usual “Have you read…” conversation, wherein I discovered that she had not… Read More
Noir
Before teaching this class, I never had to differentiate between the sub-genres of mystery to such a fine point. Yes, I knew the difference between a “cozy” and a police procedural, but the distinctions between hard-boiled and noir… Read More
Mysteries, favorites
This coming Monday will be the fourth class out of 10 of the Readers’ Advisory course I am teaching for the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) at UCLA. To translate that last, I’m teaching the… Read More
Cormoran is (finally) back
Because I read so many authors and follow so many series, I don’t always pay too close attention to how long it takes between books; but even I had noticed that it had been a really long time… Read More
Books beloved by readers
Are you a person who enjoys reading about reading? Who loves it when a book has an author as its character, is set in a bookstore or a library, or involves you in some magical aspect of story?… Read More
Bolton fans, take note!
Sharon Bolton, in addition to some amazingly dark and delicious stand-alone mystery/thriller novels, has written a four-book (so far) series featuring Detective Constable Lacey Flint. What I just found out is that Bolton has been adding to that… Read More
The Book Adept 