You Do You

I've always been slightly rebellious (okay, my mom just laughed at the use of the word "slightly"), so I've never been one to read something because it's a best seller, or because someone else tells me that a book is "important."
In today's New York Times Book Review section, I loved reading a debate about this very idea: Is a book good because it's "LIT-ra-ture," or because it's just fun to read?
I believe that, much like a Twinkie, the middle is where the good stuff happens. On one end you have what you're supposed to read, and almost never do. And on the other end, the things that you're slightly embarrassed to admit you read. Much like admitting that you ever ate a Twinkie.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Henry James, William Faulkner, Plutarch, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen. And I also enjoy the books that I call "popcorn books," those by Dick Francis and Agatha Christie. They aren't on any classics lists, but I love them and gobble them down like popcorn. In fact, I have every single one of the Dick Francis books - 49 if you're counting.
But tell me that I have to read something just because everyone else thinks it's fabulous and I balk. Because I'm usually let down (thanks a lot, Dan Brown and Jonathan Franzen) and the attention is often not worth the blather.
Frankly, it's why I gravitate to book awards like the Man Booker and the Morning News Tournament of Books - the nominated books are usually good to fantastic, amazingly well written, and creatively entertaining (except for that John Irving thing, but more about that in another post).
The middle is occupied by wizards like Jo Rowling and Elizabeth George, who create indelible characters while pulling us completely into their worlds. Or by Jo Nesbo and Robert Harris, who paint mesmerizing visions of worlds we don't occupy.
And I've read breathtaking writing - crying (hard) over Harrison in Pigeon English, holding my breath over the pain suffered by Dorrigo in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and sighing when Marie-Laure finally meets Werner in All the Light We Cannot See. The middle even made me change my mind over apocalyptic novels after I read Station Eleven. The middle is really satisfying.
So don't let anyone tell you that your favorite author isn't a good one. Or that you aren't intelligent enough to "get it" if you don't like James Joyce. You read what you want. You do you. And we'll meet in the middle.

The Murderous Month of May

According to Booklist, May is Mystery Month, but really any day of the year is the perfect time to read a mystery as far as I'm concerned.
I'm often asked who my favorite authors are, and really it's impossible to nail down just one or two. So in celebration of this murderous month, I'll give you a list of my favorite mystery writers.
You may not be familiar with some of these names, but isn't that a good thing? There's nothing better than stumbling on a new series of fabulous books or an incredible new (to you) writer.
Feel free to send me your favorite mystery titles and authors, too. My reading stack is a little low.

Favorite Mystery Writers

Jussi Adler-Olsen

Hailing from Denmark, Adler-Olsen lightens the Nordic Noir genre with his world-weary detective Carl Morck, who feels like he's been put out to pasture in his new Department Q, featuring a team of just one detective (Carl) and one odd assistant.

Fiona Buckley

After a seven year hiatus, Buckley (aka Valerie Anand) has picked back up with her terrific Ursula Blanchard series. The Tudor-era detective in this case is a dead ringer for Queen Elizabeth I, a fact that makes her both a pawn and a tool for the Queen.

Ann Cleeves

Her Shetland series, featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, is engrossing and perfectly captures life on the remote Shetland islands. She has another great series that features DI Vera Stanhope. I'm diving into those books this summer.

Lindsey Davis

I'm completely in love with Marcus Didius Falco, the savvy, witty, and infuriating Roman detective that stars in Davis's 20-book series set in 70AD. I've hooked many a reader on this terrific group of books.

Dick Francis

Every single one of his 40-some mysteries involves horse racing in some fashion, and the books are always a quick read. But don't make the mistake of thinking they're shallow. There's a reason that I worked hard to put every single one of his books on my shelves.

Tana French

French's set of Irish detective novels has been heaped with awards, with good reason. They are gritty, stark, and utterly compelling. Start with Into the Woods, an absolutely incredible novel for any genre.

David Fulmer

Take the infamous New Orleans red-light district of Storyville, add the evocative time period when Jazz was just taking form, and then mix in Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr and a heaping helping of real-life crooked politicians and criminals and you have an intoxicating (and additive) brew.

Elizabeth George

I defy you to find a writer that is better at giving you fully developed and completely alive characters. I catch myself thinking of Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers as people who truly live in my world. George is one of the top writers of our era. Period.

Sue Grafton

Her alphabet series may have started out as a fun way to write a series, but the private detective Kinsey Milhone took mysteries to a whole new level. Is the series stale after so many books? Quite the opposite. I think the newest book (V for Vengeance) is one of the best in the group.

Arnaldur Indridason

Iceland is the perfect setting for crime, with a rugged and forbidding landscape as a backdrop to dark deeds. Detective Erlendur takes it one step further as a loner fighting his own personal demons.

Stieg Larsson

Unless you've been living under a rock, you don't need me to describe Larsson's trilogy to you. I'll just say: It's worth all the hype.

Peter Lovesey

You gotta love a curmudgeon and Peter Diamond, a detective in modern-day Bath, is a rumpled, grumpy, lovable guy with a nose for solving crimes.

Denise Mina

It's a man's world when it comes to detectives and police procedurals, and that's what makes Mina's DI Alex Morrow so amazing. Who else could solve mysteries and whip her squad into shape, all while pregnant with twins? A fabulous case of Tartan Noir.

Jo Nesbo

The king of Nordic Noir, Nesbo's detective Harry Hole is conflicted, afflicted, and addicted. If you like your mysteries dark and deep, this is the series for you.

Happy Birthday, EG

I am in Los Angeles for a bloggers conference, so my posts will be a little out of order this week.
But I couldn't let the day go by without sending birthday wishes to Elizabeth George, author of the Lynley series of books (and one of my faves)! The London Times ranked Elizabeth George on its top "masters of crime" list, alongside Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
High praise indeed, but very well deserved!
More posts from L.A. soon.

Review and Recipe: A Tangled Mystery

Review: Believing the Lie
by Elizabeth George
Mysteries are like Gordian knots that must be picked apart to separate lies from truth, fact from fiction, and clues from red herrings. Add in a dysfunctional family that has its own reasons for concealing the truth, and you have a situation primed to frustrate even the best of detectives.
Inspector Thomas Lynley is one of the very best, but he's just emerging from the worst time of his life ― the murder of his wife. Still grieving, Lynley is easily convinced to do a favor for his superior, which involves traveling to Cumbria to determine if the death of Ian Fairclough was murder or an accident. Ian's father, Bernard, isn't clear about why he feels the need to have Ian's death investigated after the coroner has already proclaimed it an accident, but he is very clear that he wants Lynley to keep his inquiry under wraps.
Lynley's usual partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, is left in London to help with research while Lynley travels with his friends, forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife Deborah. They have their hands full with the Fairclough family, encountering deceit, child pornography, racism, blackmail, and more. But murder? The jury's still out on that one.
It's no secret that I count Elizabeth George as one of my favorite authors. But I would be telling a lie if I said this was her best work. George is at her best with characters; in fact, I'm not sure I can name another author today who breathes as much life into each person. That doesn't waver at all in Believing a Lie, but if you haven't read her earlier books in the Lynley series, you may not understand each side subplot as well as someone who has lived with the characters for years, as I have. And there are so many people to follow in the book that the central mystery is sometimes obscured.
Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to read this book after so long without a George novel in my hands. But others in the Lynley series have more compelling mysteries and draw you deeper into the lives and minds of Lynley and Havers, who are fantastic protagonists.
If you are a George fan and have read all of the previous 16 books, you'll be entertained. If you've never read one of her books, start at the beginning with A Great Deliverance. You'll thank me for getting you hooked on an amazing series.

Recipe: Savory Rock Scones
Rocks and stones are at the center of Ian Fairclough's mysterious death, and what better way to accompany a British story than with scones?
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 cup cubed ham
1/2 cup grated Gruyere
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With your fingers, mix flour, butter, sugar, cayenne, salt, and baking powder until you have a coarse meal batter. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to mix with your fingers very gently until there are no dry parts of the batter and everything is well combined. Scoop dough out and form into rough rounds on an ungreased baking sheet, until you have 12 scones.  Bake 25 minutes.

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Have you ever had that feeling that your favorite author is a slacker? There are times when I want to email some of my favorite writers and ask them why their newest books are taking so long. What could they possibly be doing? Don't they understand that I'm here waiting for the books? How hard could it be?

I just received the latest book by one of my all-time favorite authors, Elizabeth George, and now I know why it's been so long since her last publication. Believing the Lie is a whopping 600 pages, enough to keep me happy for two days or so. Kidding (or am I?).

Only have to wait till next week for this one!

Besides the second book in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy (hurry up already!), here are three titles that I am eagerly awaiting: 

This sequel to Wolf Hall will be out in May (love the title).

May is going to be a good month for books. Sigh.