okay, I lied...forgot my complete list of books read for the year

The complete list of books read in 2009:

January - First Books in Mystery Series (*)
1. From Doon With Death, by Ruth Rendell*
2. Birth Marks, by Sarah Dunant*
3. Turnstone, by Graham Hurley*
4. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
5. The Weight of Water, by Anita Shreve
6. Death of A Gossip, by MC Beaton*
7. Not a Creature Was Stirring, by Jane Haddam*
8. Bloodless Shadow, by Victoria Blake*
9. Mortal Mischief, by Frank Tallis*
10. Raven: The Untold Story of the Reverend Jim Jones and his People, by Tim Reiterman
11. Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin*
12. Drood, by Dan Simmons
13. The Camel Club, by David Baldacci*
14. The Collectors, by David Baldacci
15. The Last Witch of Langenburg: Murder in a German Village, by Thomas Robisheaux

- February 2009 - Honoring African-American Authors (*)
16. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, by Charles Dickens
17. Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History, by Wallace Terry *
18. The Conjure Woman, by Charles W. Chesnutt*
19. The Book of Absinthe: A Cultural History, by Phil Baker
20. The Darling, by Russell Banks
21. Soul on Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver*
22. If He Hollers Let Him Go, by Chester Himes*
23. The Redbreast, by Jo Nesbo
24. Bertram of Butter Cross, by Jeffrey Barlough
25. The Street, by Ann Petry *
26. A Bleeding of Innocents, by Jo Bannister
27. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, by John M. Barry
28. The Seance, by John Harwood
29. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, by Harriet A. Washington *
30. Song Yet Sung, by James McBride *
31. Tess of the D'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
32. A Beautiful Blue Death, by Charles Finch

-March 2009 - Random Nonfiction (*)
33. The Vanishing, by Tim Krabbe
34. Nemesis, by Jo Nesbo
35. Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam, by Pope Brock*
36. The Dogs of Riga, by Henning Mankell
37. My Lobotomy, by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming*
38. Panama Fever, by Matthew Parker*
39. The Mexican Mafia, by Tony Rafael*
40. The Dark Lantern, by Gerri Brightwell
41. Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews, by Sir David Frost with Bob Zelnick*
42. Hag's Nook, by John Dickson Carr

-April 2009- Locked Room Mysteries and Other Impossible Crimes (*)

43. The Mad Hatter Mystery, by John Dickson Carr
44. The Eight of Swords, by John Dickson Carr
45. The Mystery of the Yellow Room, by Gaston Leroux*
46. The Chinese Orange Mystery, by Ellery Queen*
47. The Moonflower, by Beverley Nichols*
48. The Layton Court Mystery, by Anthony Berkeley*
49. The Blind Barber, by John Dickson Carr
50. Death-Watch, by John Dickson Carr
51. The Three Coffins, by John Dickson Carr*
52. The Footprints on the Ceiling, by Clawton Rawson*
53. Diagnosis: Impossible: The Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne, by Edward D. Hoch*
54. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, by Soji Shimada*
55. The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries, (ed.) Mike Ashley
56. The Big Bow Mystery, by Israel Zangwill
57. The Crimes of Paris, by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (thanks, Librarything ER!)

- May 2009 -
Books With Names in the Title*
58. Dante's Numbers, by David Hewson*
59. Emma Brown, by Clare Boylan*
60. The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette, by R.T. Raichev*
61. James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B Sheldon, by Julie Phillips*
62. The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
63. Annie's Ghosts, by Steve Luxenberg*
64. The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
65. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao*
66. Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear*
67. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
68. The Walking People, by Mary Beth Keane
69. Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee, by Chloe Hooper
70. Cemetery Dance, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

June - I'm Enery the Eighth I am, Enery the Eighth I am I am * ... (I miss the Tudors on Showtime, so I'll read about them)
71. The Book of God and Physics: A Novel of the Voynich Mystery, by Enrique Joven
72. The Doomsday Key, by James Rollins
73. The Pilgrimage of Grace, by Geoffrey Moorhouse*
74. The Wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser *
75. The Good Doctors: The Medical Committee for Human Rights and the Struggle for Social Justice in Health Care, by John Dittmer
76. High: Confessions of an International Drug Smuggler, by Brian O'Dea
76. Dissolution: A Novel of Tudor England, by CJ Sansom*
77. Fragment, by Warren Fahy
78. Charisma, by Jo Bannister
79. Henry VIII, Man and Monarch, Susan Doran (ed.)
80. A Taste for Burning, by Jo Bannister
81. Enoch's Portal, by A.W. Hill

July: Chillin' by the pool with old friends: revisiting favorite authors and characters (aka: the calm before the August/September Booker longlist storm)*

82. The Last Days of Madame Rey, by A.W. Hill*
83. Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie*
84. The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underground and the American Dream, by Patrick Radden Keefe
85. Nightmare's Disciple, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.*
86. Red to Black, by Alex Dryden
87. Mind's Eye, by Hakan Nesser*
88. Voices, by Arnaldur Indridason*
89. The White Lioness, by Henning Mankell
90. The Man Who Smiled, Henning Mankell
91. Sidetracked, by Henning Mankell
92. Hosts, by F. Paul Wilson
93. The Haunted Air, by F. Paul Wilson
94. The Man Who Went Up in Smoke, by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall
95. Between the Assassinations, by Aravind Adiga
96. Seventy-Seven Clocks, by Christopher Fowler
97. The Ten-Second Staircase, by Christopher Fowler
98. White Corridor, by Christopher Fowler

August & September 2009 -- The Booker Prize Longlist*
99. Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin*
100. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel* (my choice this year, but I never win)
101. Me Cheeta, by James Lever*
102. The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson
103. Dark Specter, by Michael Dibdin
104. The Water's Lovely, by Ruth Rendell
105. Detective Inspector Huss, by Helene Tursten
106. Summertime, by J.M. Coetzee*
107. Heliopolis, by James Scudamore*
108. The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt*
109. The Quickening Maze, by Adam Foulds*
110. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
111. The Glass Room, by Simon Mawer*
112. Love and Summer, by William Trevor*

October - Relieving my Overtaxed and Tired Brain -- absolutely no topic!
113. Wicked (a reread, book group)
114. Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon (audio)
115. Stardust, by Joseph Kanon (thanks, Amazon Vine!)
116. The Fifth Woman, by Henning Mankell
117. Sun and Shadow, by Ake Edwardson
118. Dirty Little Angels, by Chris Tusa (thank you!)
119. The Draining Lake, by Arnaldur Indridason
120. The White Mary, by Kira Salak (thanks, Librarything!)
121. Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer
122. Monstrocity, by Jeffrey Thomas
123. Not Untrue and Not Unkind, by Ed O'Loughlin
124. Son of a Witch (audiobook)

November - Madness and Mayhem in the UK, alpha by detective, A-M

125. The Wychford Murders, by Paula Gosling (Luke Abbott)*
126. Gallows View, by Peter Robinson (Alan Banks)*
127. Mr. Shivers, by Robert Jackson Bennett (thanks, Amazon Vine!)
128. The Shimmer, by David Morrell
129. Black Dog, by Stephen Booth (Ben Cooper)*
130. Dover One, by Joyce Porter (Wilfred Dover)*
131. Evans Above, by Rhys Bowen (Evan Evans)*
132. A Death for Adonis, by E.X. Giroux (Robby Forsythe)*
133. A Shilling for Candles, by Josephine Tey (Alan Grant)*
134. The Mysterious Commission, by Michael Innes (Charles Honeybath)*
135. Oxford Exit, by Veronica Stallwood (Kate Ivory)*
136. Ritual Murder, by S.T. Haymon (Ben Jurnet)*
137. The Chalon Heads, by Barry Maitland (Kolla and Brock)*
138. The Judas Pair, by Jonathan Gash (Lovejoy)*
139. The Plague Court Murders, by Carter Dickson (Sir Henry Merrivale)*
140. Winnie and Wolf, by A.N Wilson

December: Madness and Mayhem in the UK, alpha by detective, N-Z (and actually, I only made it to Y...it was the length of Under the Dome that threw me off by my one book!)

141. The Cruel Stars of the Night, by Kjell Eriksson
142. Constable on the Hill, by Nick Rhea (Constable Nick)*
143. Snow Angels, by James Thompson (Thanks, Amazon Vine!)
144. Garnethill, by Denise Mina (Maureen O'Donnell)*
145. The Merchant's House, by Kate Ellis (Wesley Peterson)*
146. Death in the Morning, by Sheila Radley (Douglas Quantrill)*
147. Heresy, by S.J. Parrish (Thanks to Bookbrowse.com first impressions program)
148. Hide and Seek, by Ian Rankin (Inspector John Rebus)*
149. Funeral Music, by Morag Joss (Sarah Selkirk)*
150. The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
151. A Silent Witness, by R. Austin Freeman (Dr. Thorndyke)*
152. The Governess, by Evelyn Hervey (Harriet Unwin)*
153. A Good Weekend for Murder, by Jennifer Jordan (Barry and Dee Vaughan)*
154. Little Face, by Sophie Hannah (Detective Simon Waterhouse)*
155. Cat's Cradle, by Clare Curzon (Supt. Mike Yeadings)*
156. Under the Dome, by Stephen King

last post of 2009 - and a happy new year to everyone.

Well, this is it, the last post. It's only 7:40 here on the east coast, but I'm off to a party and something tells me that I won't feel much like reading after midnight. So -- this year I read 156 books and 2 tied for favorites: Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel and The Glass Room, by Simon Mawrer.  I bought and swapped for countless numbers of books, discovered several wonderful new authors, and started to make a dent in my tbr pile, especially downstairs in the British reading room. 

Now I'm ready for next year, with my goal of 160 books in mind, so let's see if it's possible. My thanks to everyone who commented with constructive things to say.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a goodnight.

Under the Dome, by Stephen King

Without going into plot details, Under the Dome was not one of my favorite King books. That honor goes to books like The Stand, The Shining, Salem's Lot, and especially his Gunslinger series.   Even without comparing it to his earlier works, Under the Dome was just okay, and dare I say it, a bit tedious.

The book was for me a commentary on human nature under inconceivable conditions and proof of the old adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  The characters were well developed, the plot  well constructed  (in a science fiction-ish sort of way)  and King created an atmosphere of incredible tension and suspense, but only up to a point. First, the story was not worth the 1000+ pages, but my biggest complaint about this book was the ending, which really killed the book for me.  I felt let down and cheated after sticking it out until the last page. I also feel compelled to note that the ending (without giving away anything) reminded me a little of Dr. Seuss' book Horton Hears a Who. I honestly felt that King could have done so much more with this book and was disappointed.

However, considering all of the 4 and 5 ratings this book has garnered, it might be that I was expecting too much.  So I'd say try it, but personally, I'm not sure it's really worth the long read.

*Cat's Cradle, by Clare Curzon (Mike Yeadings)

In this, the seventh installment of Clare Curzon's Mike Yeadings series, the Thames Valley police are called in to investigate the death of Lorely Pelling.  Miss Pelling lived a reclusive life on property that belonged to her family, all dead now,  collected cats, grew her own vegetables, and had sold off some of the family's land in order to live that way.  The police immediately wonder if a stray shot from an earlier teens party (where the kids were practicing shooting) at the nearby home of the Welch family may have been the cause of her death, but other clues come to light that suggest it was foul play. Mike Yeadings, a Detective Superintendent, and his team are in charge of the investigation, and must get to the bottom of Miss Pelling's murder, but unwilling witnesses, too many suspects and some red herrings aren't going to make it easy for them.

This is my first Mike Yeadings novel, because the first few are very rare and hard to come by (and I don't buy ex-library editions). Normally I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, but this time due to unavailability, this is where I began. I don't know what I've missed as far as character development, but  I like Yeadings as a character and will definitely be reading more of Curzon's work.  The ending of this novel seems a bit strange, considering it was originally written in 1991 (I won't say why in case someone plans to read this) but otherwise, the book was good, the mystery was solid and I liked it.

*Little Face, by Sophie Hannah (Detective Simon Waterhouse)

finally...I'm reaching the end at W... and considering there's no X, two more to go before my mini-challenge is complete for December.

I was expecting a lot more out of this one considering the teasing and tantalizing blurbs on the back of the book.

The story is told via the use of different narratives, one of them being from the point of view of Alice Fancourt, who has just come home with her new baby Florence.  Alice and her husband David, Florence and David's young son from a previous marriage all live at the home of David's mother, Vivienne Fancourt, where Vivienne rules the roost in her lavish house called The Elms.   As the story opens, Alice has left the house for a while for the first time since she delivered Florence via C-section.  When she returns, she checks in on the baby and lo and behold, it's not Florence.  Her husband, David, thinks that Alice is a bit disturbed and probably suffering from a case of postpartum depression, and swears that the baby is definitely Florence.  But Alice thinks that a mother definitely knows her own baby -- and calls in the police.  Enter Simon Waterhouse and his DS Charlie Zailer.  There's absolutely no proof that Florence isn't Florence, so there's really no case, but things change when just a week later the baby and Alice go missing...and Waterhouse begins to take a second and more serious look at what's really going on here.

I was definitely quite hooked on the story up until the end when I thought it all fell apart.  However, I can't explain without giving away the show so I'll let it go.  Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed in the ending, as were many people for reasons I won't get into here,  but the way it was just sort of thrust at me made it feel rushed and contrived.  I think more of that particular plotline needed to be developed up to that point to have it all make more sense.  It's also definitely a book demanding reader participation.

Overall, it's a decent read, and I would recommend it for people who like suspense novels.

*A Good Weekend for Murder, by Jennifer Jordan (Barry and Dee Vaughan)

A Good Weekend for Murder is the first installment in a series featuring Barry Vaughan, a history teacher and British crime fiction writer, and his wife, Dee. I chose this book because I have a deep-seated fondness for English country home murders, and because it's the first in a British mystery series.  The story centers around another crime novelist, Charles Wild, who has managed to make enough enemies, all with reasons to kill him.  He is murdered at his lavish country house, but with so many suspects, the police are going to have a very difficult time making sense of it all.  Enter the Vaughans, who have also been invited to the party and who take up amateur sleuthing in an effort to get to the bottom of the murder.

Up until the murder, the story is quite good, largely because Charles Wild is such a great bad guy and the author spends a lot of time setting the scene for him to be a person most likely to die because of his nasty personality.  But once the murder occurs and the police step in, it's like the author kind of ran out steam and couldn't figure out where the story was going.  The Vaughans, as a detective duo who reconjure themselves as Nick and Nora Charles, aren't so great as characters, but the real problem is the plotting and the pacing.  The end comes as a rush, and it seemed that the announcement of the killer was more of an afterthought than the purpose of the mystery.  I'm willing to let this slide and go on to the next in the series because it's a series opener, but hard-core mystery readers may be a bit disappointed overall. 

I'd recommend it with caution, because it's a bit unsatisfying. The unraveling of the murder plot is a bit ho-hum and I'd probably guess that it's more oriented to cozy readers rather than more serious mystery readers like myself. 

*The Governess, by Evelyn Hervey (Miss Harriet Unwin)

To be very blunt, the only reason I chose to read this novel is that it had a detective whose last name started with the letter U. And to be even more blunt, it was terrible.

Miss Harriet Unwin is the featured sleuth in this novel, which is the first in a series of three mysteries written by HRF Keating in his guise as Evelyn Hervey.  Had I written this novel, I would have disguised my identity as well.

In a nutshell, the story is as follows: Miss Harriet Unwin is a governess in a Victorian home, where three generations of the same family live together. The family name is Thackerton, made wealthy by their invention of a steam process for making hats.  Mr. Thackerton senior is soon found stabbed to death in his library, and suspicion falls on the governess. Of course, she's innocent, but threatened with arrest or worse (being turned out of the household to face a life of poverty), she feels that she must clear her name. The police sergeant is a major bumbler, but soon Harriet finds herself out of the loop of suspects. But wait...after a second murder, her fortunes change yet again...but with an entire house filled with suspects, the road to clearing herself is an uphill one.

Sounds good, right? And it really could have been, had it been written well.  I have a fondness for Victorian settings as well as governesses, so I was looking forward to this one, but as things progressed, I had to force myself to finish this one. The characters are all flat, the solution is anything but satisfactory, and comes out of nowhere at the end of the novel. I couldn't feel even the slightest amount of pity for the heroine, which is really sad.

Perhaps this one is more for people who enjoy cozy mysteries set in historical time periods, but serious mystery readers might want to skip this one.